The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair

Guinevere St. Clair is full of quirky, authentic characters. There’s Gaysie Cutter, huge in body and personality, who lives in a giant farmhouse painted the color of a clementine and who has a rep for burying things in her backyard and speaking her mind. And Gwyn’s Nana, who reminds Gwyn of “a perfectly tied bow… a woman who always buttoned her top button.” You can’t help but love Gwyn’s friend Micah, who likes to wear sparkly shoe laces and purple capes, and who, as a result, earns the unwanted attention of mean kids from school. And then there’s Jed, Gwyn’s father, who is devoted to his wife and his determined to help her. Says Gwyn of her father, “He was not a quitter; he was a man who fixed things.” Guinevere leads this entertaining cast, searching for clues of a farmer’s mysterious disappearance, as well as for any sign that her mother knows and loves her. I related to Gwyn immediately, as my mother suffered from a neurological disease, and I have spent much of my life gathering clues about what she was like when she was healthy. Gwyn evokes empathy with her candid and poignant descriptions of what it’s like to live with a mother who doesn’t remember her daughter. When speaking about her Nana, Gwyn says, “I once overheard my father say that Vienna’s condition was the great tragedy of Nana’s life. But from where I sat, Nana should be happiest of all of us; she had at least had the best of Vienna.” Wow. And when Gwyn runs into people in the small town of Crow who ask about her mom, “Everyone was curious about Vienna, but few were comfortable talking about her.” As a current resident of a small town, I say this is spot on! And this line brought tears to my eyes, I could relate to it so well: “I held the handmade book tightly, suddenly feeling a great wave of homesickness for a person I hardly knew.” I knew my mother much better than Gwyn knows hers, however, I understand the need to cling to physical representations of people we have lost in a desperate attempt to bring them closer. Amy Makechnie explores several themes in The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair, including loss, being true to oneself, and acceptance. By the end of the book, Gwyn learns to accept her mother’s condition, but she isn’t without hope. And into all of this, the characters and the themes, Makechnie weaves a mystery, with suspense that kept me turning pages long after I should have turned off my bedside light. Some of the pieces of the mystery didn’t play out well for me, but I loved the characters and the themes so much that I didn’t care. If you enjoy middle grade books with lots of character and some mystery, you will enjoy The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair. I highly recommend it for lovers of kid lit!

To be completely forthcoming, I purchased and began reading this book because my dear friend is the author. I kept reading the book because I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. Not only has the author written a book that will engage and excite the younger reader, she has written a love story of epic proportion for the grown-ups. I expected a fairly quick read, knowing the book was written for middle grade readers. What I did not expect was my complete inability to be a responsible adult, I read when I should have been doing grown-up things. The characters are genuine, the story told from the viewpoint of a smart, inquisitive, and overly imaginative 10-year-old Who must grow up faster than she should, and seems wise beyond her years. The author paints pictures with her words, giving readers a complete vision of the world the characters live in. As with many other books that I find engaging and absolutely worth my time, I wished for a few more chapters, so I could continue my glimpse into the world created in the story. I will eagerly anticipate the next story written by this author. Not only because she is my friend, but because she is a brilliant writer.

Though a book for young readers, I was drawn in from the start and couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Ten-year-old Guinevere St. Clair's world changes when her father moves her and her sister from New York to his hometown in Iowa, in hopes of triggering a recovery for Guinevere's brain-injured mother. New friends are made, a mysterious disappearance is explored, and her mother's past is discovered. This is a lot for a child to handle, but the precocious Guinevere deftly navigates her new world, in a tone that's both poignant and humorous. Makechnie's prose is a joy to read, and her ability to create such a vivid setting and mood is impressive. The characters are fully dimensional, and as Guinevere will learn, all are not as they first appear. I highly recommend this debut novel. In fact, I'll be donating my copy to my sons' former school's library so that more readers can enjoy this gem.

This read is packed to the gills with emotion, warmth, mystery, hope and heart. Gwyn moves with her parents from New York back to her mother's childhood town—a very small town—with the hope that the environment will help her mother's memory return.While there, Gwyn befriends the neighborhood boys and soon finds herself investigating a man's disappearance. In the process, Gwyn uncovers so much more than she ever expected to. This was not the book I expected, and the surprise was a treat. Gwyn is a loving girl with spunk, who is trying to handle the situation with her mother's memory loss. Considering her mother acts and thinks like a little child, Gwyn's reactions and hesitations are understandable. The culture shock of moving from New York to the little town adds to her difficulties, and is also very well done and believable. Gwyn has a lot on her plate and she has a personality to go with it, which makes her easy to sympathize with and cheer for. The other characters are colorful and, especially Gaysie, have a personality all of their own. And it's this which makes the read unexpected and quirky and sometimes, simply, odd. There is a lot going on in these pages. Not only is Gwyn trying to come to terms with her mother's condition, but the mysteries in the town hit many levels. There are many layers not only to the plot but to the feelings, making this a read even adults will enjoy. That said, the complexity also slows the read down and keeps the pacing at bay. Still, this is an engaging read with characters who are hard to forget after the last page is done. I received a complimentary copy and enjoyed it enough...especially the characters...and wanted to leave my honest thoughts.