edna & luna

The author sent me a autographed copy of her novel to review:

This is another novel that reminds me of Seinfeld’s theme for his TV series, which was “a show about nothing.” This was a novel about nothing. It was a pleasant story and well written but a tad uneventful. I’m just not sure what caused Gleah Powers to write this story. Maybe she wanted to write a story that was the opposite of the 1991 film Thelma and Louise. Thelma’s husband has the same name as Luna’s trailer park landlord, Darryl. And Louise has a boyfriend who would not commit like Luna’s Dr. Mark. Okay, I’m just having some fun, but Gleah Powers’ novel was a bit stodgy...don’t you think?  One last thing...both story venues are in the Southwest. Okay, so what’s this yawner about. Well, there are two main characters, which is a good thing.

The first character is Edna Harwood. She is seventy years old and just lost her husband, Hank, three months after they moved from Chicago to Phoenix. She is lonely. She just found out that she needs a hysterectomy. This reminds her of the miscarriage she had at a much younger age. To make matters worse, somebody burglarizes her home and accidentally dumps Hank’s cremated ashes onto her carpet. For some reason the author often has Edna in a supermarket (usually buying bourbon). Anyway, she meets Joe at a Sun City Senior Citizens Club dance. Joe agrees to build a windbreaker in her backyard. Are you excited yet? Anyhow, Edna will eventually run into Luna at the supermarket...of course.

The second character is Luna, who just left her violent husband. She moves into a trailer park near Edna’s home with her dog, Tula. Luna has been a healer all her life and advertises that fact but has no paying customers as of yet. She has occasional sex with the park’s landlord, Darryl, and a Dr. Mark that she recently met.

So now that I whet your appetite with the modus operandi of the two centerpieces, I’ll leave their subsequent meeting and the crux of the novel for you to read. I don’t want to appear to be uncaring to the author because she has impressive credentials as a painter, actor, and dancer besides other literary accomplishments. But this novel was...humdrum.

RATING: 3 out of 5 stars

Comment: This is probably the shortest review I ever wrote. But besides the Thelma and Louise comparison I made in the first paragraph, which was tongue-in-cheek, there is nothing that I’ve read to compare with her novel.