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Shelter Me Kindle Edition

by Juliette Fay (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 397 ratings
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“A gorgeous paradox of a book: a deep, thoughtful exploration of a mother’s first year of widowhood that is as much a page turner as any thriller.” Maris de los Santos, New York Times bestselling author of Belongs to Me

Four months after her husband's death, Janie LaMarche remains undone by grief and anger. Her mourning is disrupted, however, by the unexpected arrival of a builder with a contract to add a porch onto her house. Stunned, Janie realizes the porch was meant to be a surprise from her husband—now his last gift to her.

As she reluctantly allows construction to begin, Janie clings to the familiar outposts of her sorrow—mothering her two small children with fierce protectiveness, avoiding friends and family, and stewing in a rage she can't release. Yet Janie's self-imposed isolation is breached by a cast of unlikely interventionists: her chattering, ipecac-toting aunt; her bossy, over-manicured neighbor; her muffin-bearing cousin; and even Tug, the contractor with a private grief all his own.

As the porch takes shape, Janie discovers that the unknowable terrain of the future is best navigated with the help of others—even those we least expect to call on, much less learn to love.

“Tinged with searing insight and often hilarious wry humor.” —The Boston Globe

“A widow embarks on a year of transformation in Fay’s wise and inspirational debut. . . . The concerns of single motherhood after sudden tragedy come vividly to life, and as Janie learns to appreciate everyday miracles, readers will be charmed.” —Publishers Weekly
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  1. Print length
    450 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    William Morrow Paperbacks
  5. Publication date
    December 24, 2008
  6. File size
    4040 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After Janie LaMarche's husband, Robby, dies in a motorcycle accident, the 38-year-old Pelham, Mass., widow embarks on a year of transformations in Fay's wise and inspirational debut. Going through the bewildering and painful cycle of grief and anger while trying to hold it together for her children—preschooler Dylan and toddler Carly—is no walk in the park. Enter Tug Malinowski, an attractive contractor Robby had hired to build a screened-in porch to surprise Janie. Tug is divorced, childless and attracted to Janie while she's tempted by Fr. Jake Sweeney, who has a secret life of misery and fears casting aside his vow of celibacy. Fay's mingling of Janie's pithy journal excerpts with crisp traditional plotting adds a nice depth to Janie's journey to emotional healing. The concerns of single motherhood after sudden tragedy come vividly to life, and as Janie learns to appreciate everyday miracles, readers will be charmed. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

''Fay's mingling of Janie's pithy journal excerpts with crisp traditional plotting adds a nice depth to Janie's journey to emotional healing. The concerns of single motherhood after sudden tragedy come vividly to life, and as Janie learns to appreciate everyday miracles, readers will be charmed.'' --Publishers Weekly

''A gorgeous paradox of a book: a deep, thoughtful exploration of a young mother 's first year of widowhood that is as much a page turner as any thriller.'' -- Marisa de los Santos, New York Times bestselling author

''A tender tale . . . Juliette Fay can hit the high notes of emotion with unexpected moments of redemption and wry humor.'' -- Jacqueline Sheehan, New York Times bestselling author

''A richly told story . . . Fay writes with vivid dialog and conjures up characters that feel real enough to be sitting in your kitchen.'' --Lee Woodruff, New York Times bestselling author

''Fay keeps the reader engaged with a vivid descriptive palette evoking the little details of life in a small town. She also does a beautiful job capturing the ebb and flow of single motherhood, from small miracles and little annoyances to the big ordeals . . . Janie's journal entries give uncensored voice to her thoughts, which are tinged with searing insight and often hilarious wry humor. '' --Boston Globe

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B001NLKUZU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Original edition (December 24, 2008)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 24, 2008
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4040 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 450 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 397 ratings

About the author

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Juliette Fay

Juliette Fay

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Juliette Fay is the bestselling author of seven novels, including THE HALF OF IT, CATCH US WHEN WE FALL, CITY OF FLICKERING LIGHT and THE TUMBLING TURNER SISTERS, a USA Today bestseller and Costco Pennie’s Book Club Pick. Previous novels include THE SHORTEST WAY HOME, one of Library Journal’s Top 5 Best Books of 2012: Women’s Fiction; DEEP DOWN TRUE, short-listed for the 2011Women’s Fiction award by the American Library Association; and SHELTER ME, a 2009 Massachusetts Book Award “Must-Read Book” and an Indie Next pick.

Juliette is a graduate of Boston College and Harvard University, and lives in Massachusetts with her family. Visit her at www.juliettefay.com, Facebook: Juliette Fay author, Twitter: @juliettefay, and Instagram: Juliette_Fay.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
397 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

S. Warfield
5.0 out of 5 stars A family's grief
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
Juliette Fay's "Shelter Me" is one of the better books I've read lately. It is the story of Janie LaMarche who is a recent widow and is left with two small children. Janie's husband was killed in a biking accident and her grief and anger know no bounds. She has isolated herself from friends and family but her family still stays involved with her as much as possible.

In the midst of her grief, one day a builder shows up at her house with the plans for adding a porch on to the house. Janie had nothing to do with the porch and realized that it was a surprise gift from her husband and would be his last gift to her. Tug, the builder, understands Janie's grief since he has his own quiet sadness going on.

Part of the story is told through Janie's journal entries which are interspersed with the third person narrative. I enjoyed reading her personal thoughts and Janie was very real to me, as were most of the other characters. This book is well-written with very well developed characters. It isn't a fluffy, sappy story at all, but a genuine look at grief and how it affects one woman's life and the life of her family, friends and even her priest. Janie is down to earth, practical and is trying to keep her children's lives as normal as possible, but the difficulties she encounters with some of the pre-school mothers who are a bit diva-ish are the opposite of Janie. Janie's anger takes on a life of its own when her dressy neighbor is a bit late bringing her son home from a play date. She tolerates her ipecac-toting aunt who will come to Janie's aid whenever she is needed, ipecac or not.

Highly recommended.
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Janice K Hurst
4.0 out of 5 stars Over thought!
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2011
Verified Purchase
When you pay top price for a book, you want it to be good even great. This was good and I think deserves the 4 stars I gave it. However, it was the most frustrating book I have ever read. I just wanted to slap Janie. I can't begin to understand her pain at losing the love of her life and being left a single mother of two. But she overthought everything and over reacted to everything as well. I would have preferred a shorter version of what happened to set her off and longer journal entries of her feelings. When two men enter her life and try to help, she is such a whining bitch. I wanted to slap her. The book was well written for a first novel, but way to long. The characters were all believable and likeable and eccentric. That is except Jane. I understood the distance (real and imagined) between her and her mother and could identify. I was just really glad when the book ended and ended on a predictable and sweet ending.
One person found this helpful
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Cindy
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
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This book is not the type of book that I normally read, but I had to read it for book club and was very surprised! The book was wonderful! Very well written and easy to read.
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Bonnie Howell
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written story of love, loss and forgiveness.
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
I loved how well the characters were written
and the way Janey handled her grief, with sarcasm and a sharp tongue at times. She moves through the steps and we watch as she finally lets go of most of the pain of losing Robbie and starts to heal. She is surrounded by family and friends and the author develops each of those characters very well as tools to move the story and assist Haney ticket on with her life. It was brilliant to add the character of Emmett. Sometimes those left behind are the ones who suffer the most. The scene in the church where Father Jake talks about people , the Majii we meet along our road got me big time! I had to stop and think about that for awhile. The last scene at the beach was perfect..except I didn't want it to end!
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars More Cake Less Romance
Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2012
Verified Purchase
Shelter Me was a fun, quick read with likable characters, but a fairly predictable plot. It explores a young widow's attempts to reengage with life. I guess my main problem with the book is that it relies too heavily on romance as the solution to grief. I'm just not convinced that a widow would be quite so ready to start a new relationship that quickly. I loved the idea of "Pology" Cakes and would have loved that theme to have been more prominent.
One person found this helpful
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Lisa
4.0 out of 5 stars Almost gave up but....
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2011
Verified Purchase
I nearly stopped reading this book. I did not like Janie at all. I found her whiny, ungrateful, selfish, self-centered and downright mean. Yes, her husband died unexpectedly. Yes, she was left a young widow with young children, and an especially young daughter who would never know her father.

But Janie had a support network. She had her Aunt Jude, her friend Shelly, her parish, and of course, Tug. Not to mention the fact that her husband left her with life insurance, enough that she could continue to live in their home and support their children (include paying for a private school for their son, Dylan). She didn't have to find a job. She didn't have to put her children in daycare. And then along comes Tug with the promised front porch, and quickly charms his way into her life and begins taking care of her and the kids.

My sister's husband has brain cancer and the reality is she may end up a young widow. So I had a personal interest in this story and how Janie would recover from her husband's death. A work of fiction, yes, but I was looking for some kind of peace and comfort.

So as I said, I almost gave up. And then the author shifted gears, almost as though she too sensed that Janie was being unlikeable and self-serving. She ended the icky uncomfortable sub-plot involving Father Jake. The character of Tug became central to the story and I found myself falling in love with him.

I didn't like the flip-flopping of Janie's mother's character or her reaction to Janie's relationship with Tug. That didn't make sense to me. I could never understand Janie's dislike for Barb. The Heidi character was odd as well.

Overall, I did end up enjoying this book. I wanted to see how Janie survived her first year as a widow. Even though I knew how this book would end, I stuck with it.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

jaffareadstoo
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2012
Verified Purchase
Janie LaMarche needs to find enormous strength of spirit in order to bring up her two young children alone. With an abundance of warm and tender characters, Juliette Fay has explored the emotional and psychological needs of this young mother, and has created a memorable and tender story. Throughout the story, an abundance of warm and witty characters form the glue that keeps this family together, but there is also a dark side, with secrets that need to be explored and hidden demons that are better chased away. The story flows easily, and the author has a lovely way with words which convey a wise and witty, and ultimately tender story about love, loss and the power of redemption. Focusing on the minutiae of life with all its hope and fears, Shelter Me is one of those stories that will remain with you long after the last page has been turned.
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