It seemed appropriate to read Labor Day this weekend plus it’s been on my to read list since the Kate Winslet movie came out a few years ago.
Henry is a thirteen-year-old boy when he is stopped by an escaped felon, Frank, at a store on Labor Day weekend. Frank asks Henry’s mother, Adele, if he can hide out at her house until the police search subsides. Adele has become a shut-in since Henry’s father left years ago but agrees to let Frank stay with them. Over the course of the long weekend Adele becomes enamored with the convict; Frank proposes and they devise a plan to escape to Canada where they can start over as a family. Henry gets angry with all the attention Frank is lavishing on his mother but is conflicted about turning him in.
The novel is told by an adult Henry who is remembering this summer as a married man with a young daughter. The story is sweet and simple; you might think Adele is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome but really I think she was just so damaged that she instantly fell in love with the first man who paid her any attention. However, I could not get over the dialog having no quotation marks- what an irritating choice!
Either way it was a pleasant read for the Holiday weekend.
