Blue Diary is at times a distressing, but well-written and beautiful book. It gets its fingers into the raw stuff of human emotion in a poetic, elegant way and does not leave off until the end. There are many characters, and each one is a fully-formed person with hopes and fears (the author has a clever and unusual knack for writing a couple of sentences about each one, so we know more than they do, but without it ever falling into the trap of “telling” rather than “showing”).

Ethan Ford wanders into the local bar one day, and falls in love with Jorie. They marry, and now have a twelve year old son. Ethan is a model citizen, coaching kids in the sports teams, helping out, being a volunteer firefighter and saving lives. Thirteen years later they are still head over heels in love, but one day Ethan’s image shows up on a criminals-wanted show, he is recognized by a 12-year old girl Kat, and she calls it in. We pick up the story just as Ethan is arrested, throwing the entire community into painful disarray.

In life, the only thing one can expect is change, and sometimes that change is traumatic. It’s what you do with it that counts. Some of the characters are shaken up enough to strive for the things they wanted all their lives. Others are torn apart by what’s happened, being lied to thirteen years, and let themselves be dragged down by it. The complex emotions and thoughts of these people are beautifully shown, and their choices and actions are realistic. While the subject of the book is on the surface depressing, the end result is uplifting, positive, and real. This is a true “slice of life” novel that highlights the events of a specific period in time, and all the varied human responses to it. I will definitely be on the lookout for this author.