Born Under a Lucky Moon

Written in chapters from past to present, back and forth, Jeannie Thompson tells her story...and quite a story it is. Her large family in Michigan is a close, albeit wild, bunch of characters. However, they always pull together for Jeannie and each other in all of lifes craziness. With a good career, Jeannie also finds a good man. Afraid to introduce him to her quirky family, out of fear they may overwhelm him, she tries to avoid it. She really need not worry, though. Their zest for life, easy way of dealing with things, and their ability to be true to themselves make them, and Jeannie, what and who a family should be. And that is what matters.

Born Under a Lucky Moon is a book that pretty much covers all that can be covered within life: love, marriage, careers, humor, crazy family life, insecurities and, oh yeah - murder. I have to first off say that this author truly amazes me. Her writing voice and technique are insanely engaging and real. Ms. Precious brings to life the story of one woman who has had an anything but normal life, since the day she was conceived. I was very quickly and easily absorbed within the story of Jeannie Thompson and her many trials and tribulations from youth through adulthood. Born Under a Lucky Moon is told in an alternating time frame between Jeannies youth and her present-time adulthood. These transitions are smooth and incredible. The way in which Ms. Precious leaves the reader hanging right before making the transitions are painful - but in a way that left me not wanting to stop reading to see what the next thing that was going to happen was. The authors witty dialog is ingenious and left me laughing out loud several times. Just to give you a taste, here is a small piece from page 198: Grandma tipped her head down and looked at me over her bifocals. Oh, yes, she said, the fifth one. What in the world were your parents thinking? They probably werent thinking, I thought. I was conceived a few years after the Pill hit the market. Mom had said she was too busy with the three little kids to get to the doctor for the prescription. Thats when Lucy was born. Then Mom said that she got the birth control prescription but couldnt find the time to get to the pharmacy. Thats when I was born. Dad got a vasectomy after that. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, Jeannie has a crazy family, but dont we all? I found each and every family member to be lovable and wonderful. I just wanted to wrap them each up in a giant hug - well, except for the grandmother. Not so much feeling the love there. This is a story that delves into a family who is loving, caring and always there for one another. Things dont always go smoothly - okay, hardly ever go smoothly - but they are such an amazingly close family. Jeannie is scared to introduce her long-time boyfriend (who just recently popped the question to her) to her family, however, for fear that their zest for life will scare him off. This presents some major conflict and when her job begins to spiral out of control, Jeannie feels herself unraveling. Though I liked the character of Jeannie, there were times that I wanted to grab a hold of her and give her a good shake. She does everything imaginable to keep her boyfriend, Aidan, from any and all contact with any of her family members. Jeannie comes across as very ashamed of her family - though I dont think this is truly the case, she just harbors a ton of fear and is unable to trust in love completely. It probably doesnt help that she spent her entire life with people constantly commenting on her and her familys goings on. Family dynamics galore and a nosy town - complete with a very interesting minister, amazing love and support and true laugh-out-loud hilarity as well as touching moments that will warm the heart. Born Under a Lucky Moon is, simply put, an amazing and not-to-be-missed novel. Other than my irksomeness of Jeannie at times, there truly is nothing that I can say against this book. Even that has an important role within the story, so I cant complain about her, if she was all cheery, this would definitely be a different story. Do I recommend Born Under a Lucky Moon?! You are darned right I do!! This is the perfect story to lighten ones day and engage the reader from beginning to end. My personal experience with the ending of the story? A huge smile, as I closed the book after reading the final words.