The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore

Mary Fiction, Meg Mitchell Moore, Reagan Arthur Books Challenge

Title:  The Arrivals

Author:  Meg Mitchell Moore

Genre:  Fiction

Published:  May 2011 – Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown & Company

My take:  It’s summer and the three adult Owen children return to their parents’ home in Vermont. The eldest, Lillian, has her two small children with her. She’s left her husband after an unforgivable act. Middle child Stephen and his pregnant wife want to visit for a couple of days but a health scare forces them to extend the visit for weeks. Youngest child Rachel arrives wanting to forget about recent happenings in her life. Parents Ginny and William, both in their mid-60s, see their summer change from a quiet one to one that’s pretty much out of their control.

Meg Mitchell Moore’s character driven novel rang true for me. In fact, it made me think of how my own parents must have felt when my siblings and I (and our families) all gathered for vacations, holidays, etc. in their home. I can’t believe they still have their sanity! It was interesting to see Lillian, Stephen and Rachel move from normally capable adults to almost needy children in their parents’ home. I guess what the Owen children were seeking was a bit of security and grounding. Each was dealing with issues a bit out of their control and they needed to be taken care of by their parents – if only for a short time.

I think there’s a lot to relate to in The Arrivals. After all, we all have parents and many of us have children. My husband and I have recently moved into the roles of parents of married adult children. We’ve experienced our own ‘Arrivals‘.  The cycle continues. I enjoyed this debut novel and look forward to reading more by Meg Mitchell Moore.

Source:  I bought it.

Disclaimer:  See sidebar. I was not compensated for my review.

17 thoughts on “The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore”

  4. Hm, I’ve discovered that character driven novels don’t always work for me. This one sounds interesting enough for me to give it a try, though. I’ll add your review to the Reagan Arthur Books Challenge blog.

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  5. Love the cover on this one and it does sound like a good read. Not too sure I’d want anyone visiting for weeks – that’s too long! 🙂 Glad you liked this one, Mary.

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  6. I have never really considered how hard it is for the parents to have their nest full of so many children after all those years, but I think it sounds like the book explains that deftly. I would love to read this one and see what I think of it. It sounds rather interesting. Great review today!

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  8. I’m glad to hear you liked this one Mary as I bought it when Borders closed. My oldest son recently moved back home and it is an adjustment, especially since our other two children still live at home. It’s hard to juggle the rules in a way that is fair but appropriate for their age. I’m curious to see how these parents deal with it!

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  11. This book sounds good. As a matter of a fact I think I may have picked it up a while ago. That’s when you know you have too many books – when you can’t remember what you have anymore. Lol.

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  14. Glad to see this is a good one. I have a copy and haven’t had time to read it yet. I know a few people in that situation, kids back home, and I thought it might be quite a true to life story.

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