From May to December
Pat MacEnulty
Reviewed by Barb Radmore
From May to December is a book that grew on me as I read it and
lingered with me long after I was done. It is the story of women, all
very different but very human women. Each one is fighting her own
demons, some from within a physical prison, two from within their own
personal prisons.
The sisters, Jen and Lotty, have never been close. As children Jen felt
ignored, pushed aside by her sister's illnesses. Now, as adults, they
come together again but the reemergence of Lotty's cancer will either
strengthen or destroy their attempts at sisterhood. Jen has a past of
which she is not proud but she is trying to create a new life for
herself. When Lotty asks her to help with a prison writing program she
has begun at a local women's prison, Jen hesitates but, with many
doubts, agrees to help. Together they work with a group of women to
write and produce a production of one act plays.
The book is also told in the alternating story of four women, each one
in prison for a different crime. The strength of this book is its
portrayal of these women, their pasts, their presents and their dreams
of a future. MacEnulty gives a voice to the thousands of women
incarcerated all over the nation. These women have broken the law but
the stories behind the crimes are powerful and moving.
But this is not a book of weak women, desperation or lives at their
end. Instead it is a book full of hope, of the strength and beginnings.
There is strong emotion through out the book but it is not a sappy,
mushy, 'poor pitiful us' emotion. Instead MacEnulty's strong writing
ability brings it above the emotion to form a full bodied story that
leaves a lasting impression. She is able to lead readers into the lives
of her characters by slowing revealing their stories, unfolding the
details one by one to open a panorama of survival and substance. She
draws tears and cheers for her women through deft plotting and in depth
character development, a triumph of heart blended with talent. A
winning combination.