The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson is a story about a love triangle, family and life's ups and downs. It was a very enjoyable, easy read and our Book Club felt there were many times when we could really relate with the main character, Annabelle.
This was one of those books that you just can't wait to pick up and read. The author flip flops with chapters from the past and the present which really starts to build the reader's anticipation, although some of us would have liked to see half the book dedicated to the past and the other half to the present so they could become more engrossed in the story at hand. At any rate, Annabelle's life held something for all of us. While we all disagreed with infidelity, several of us have a,” Jeremiah", of sorts from our past who's memory will always remain frozen in time. Many of us are on the brink of becoming or have already become Empty Nester's and we also have a new grand baby in our group, so Annabelle's relationship with her son and daughter was very real to all of us.
Annabelle's relationship with her husband Grant is very complex with many years of ups and down’s. Grant is a very unique character, his personality was perplexing to many of us and we even discussed if he didn't have Asberger's Syndrome, even though this was never addressed in the book. See what happens when you get a Book Club together and start analyzing away? This story takes us through many years of Grant and Annabelle's marriage and all the twist, turns, highs and lows that go along with a relationship spanning many years.
We all had times when we were laughing out loud one minute and either seething with anger or crying the next. We highly recommend The Stuff That Never Happened to anyone over 40, we don't mean to use age discrimination but we all felt that there were so many relatable moments in this book that might be lost on someone who hasn't experienced the same life stages yet.
