Homewrecker

Bronwyn Larson’s life is literally torn apart when a tornado rips through the trailer park she and her drug-addicted mother have always called home. Fortunately, Bronwyn escapes with just a few minor injuries, only to find out that her mother is missing. Since the hospital must have parental approval for treatment, Bronwyn’s estranged father arrives and insists on taking her home with him. Bronwyn not only must deal with missing her mother, who she later learns was murdered, but as well she must figure out how to fit in with the wealthy lifestyle of Senator Soliday.

While Bronwyn is a main character who arouses the empathy of readers, she is not easy to like. On the one hand, she is grieving her mother and that reality, plus the fact that she has lost her home and everything she owned, makes some of her actions absolutely understandable. On the other hand, she has built an angry shell around herself, adamantly refusing the well-intentioned efforts of the senator, his wife and their four children to include her in the family. The trauma she has experienced forces a coming-of-age experience as Bronwyn gradually loses her very angry, abrasive and defensive demeanor and slowly learns to trust her new family and, more importantly, herself. Bronwyn was often the caregiver for her mother, and now she must accept and understand that people may actually want to care for her. Her self-pity must give way to a more rational and accepting facet of her personality.

The Soliday family seems to have Bronwyn’s best interests at heart despite some typical sibling rivalry included in the story. Just how realistic this might be is questionable, and readers may have to put their logic on hold, toss out any cynical thoughts, and simply accept that a father who has apparently been happy to go on with his life after a ‘mistake’ with a waitress sixteen years earlier now wants to welcome his estranged daughter into the fold. His wife appears completely understanding, and, despite a few minor spats, the siblings also seem quite happy with a new sister who is so unlike them. Adjustments are required all around and, somewhat idealistically, author Deanna Cameron has everyone part of “one big happy family” by the end of the novel.

The suggestion that this is a murder/suspense novel falls rather flat. Yes, Bronwyn’s mother is murdered, but there are few suspects and the perpetrator seems quite obvious throughout the story. There is also a minor romantic theme in the novel, but it, too, never really develops. Homewrecker is a drama about a teen going quite literally from rags to riches and how she matures during the process.

Various important themes arise in the novel, but more could have been done with them. The book is quite long, but, since it is entirely told from Bronwyn’s point of view, much of it is devoted to her feelings and emotions. Her mother was a drug addict, and Bronwyn even knows the identity of the dealer, but the drug issue ends there. We expect Bronwyn to act out some of the stages of grief, and certainly she frequently expresses her anger early in the book, but there isn’t really any more psychological insight into her behaviour. One of the most obvious themes is that of poverty and the huge divide between rich and poor, but, again, the author only paints both sides without seeming to draw any conclusions. It might have been interesting to have Bronwyn use some of her newfound cash to return and help others back in her trailer park, for example, as a way of working this theme a little more consciously into the book. However, nothing is mentioned about any sort of obligation for those with wealth and status to share their good fortune.

In Homewrecker, Deanna Cameron gives her young adult readers an intriguing drama with a main character whose tough exterior and roller coaster of emotions make the book an interesting read. It misses the mark in some areas but certainly provides plenty of entertainment for teens wanting a dramatic, if somewhat idealistic, novel.