The Painted Table: Honoring Mother--By Not Becoming Her — Suzanne Field

Saffee Quimbly has always sensed her normal Quimbly household was far from normal. A television? No need. Having friends over? A mistake not to be repeated. Unreasonable expectations and criticism? Painfully expected. And all part of normal. But her mother s unpredictable spells of arguing with imaginary tormentors, a Norwegian heirloom table subjected to countless layers of paint during such fits, and her father s refusal to seek help for his unstable wife these too are normal. Saffee meets the wide-open world with these secrets stowed away, and she plans to keep things that way. Jack, a blind date gone right, helps Saffee gain victory over the past, and connect to spiritual moorings.