Under Currents by Nora Roberts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


20% into the book and I’m shedding tears wondering how it is possible for an author to write so well that it feels emotionless but still make you cry. Nora Roberts needs no introduction, she’s an author who has managed to enthrall readers for such a long time that I wonder if there’s any other topic left under the sun for her to create a story about.

Under Currents talks about a very hard and painful subject, that of abuse. The story thru Zane and Darby shows us how any form of abuse, be it emotional or physical is totally unacceptable. Beginning with Zane’s and Britt’s abuse by his parents, Darby’s abuse by her husband, and then another abuse story, so much gets discussed in the book along with landscape design and gardening. The first part of the book with its detailed descriptions is quite hard hitting but then on the story honestly became boring for me.
There’s of course a beautiful development of love and romance between Darby and Zane and all the sub plots with a very feel good community vibe with its lake and scenery, well, it is NR, so one shouldn’t expect anything less. She does know to create magic and for long time fans of the author there’s in fact nothing to be disappointed about even if it feels repetitive. New readers are of course gonna be thrilled as there’s no better author who can give such nuanced characterization.

However, I do wish that the story was 100 pages shorter for a crisp and taut feeling. The suspense element of the book was not surprising but the love and warmth that flows thru familial bonding in the story was absolutely awesome.



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Within the walls of a tasteful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, young Zane Bigelow feels like a prisoner of war. Strangers—and even Zane’s own aunt across the lake—see his parents as a successful surgeon and his stylish wife, making appearances at their children’s ballet recitals and baseball games. Zane and his sister know the truth: There is something terribly wrong.

As his father’s violent, controlling rages—and his mother’s complicity—become more and more oppressive, Zane counts the years, months, days until he can escape. He looks out for little Britt, warning her Be smart. Be careful. In fear for his very life, he plays along with the insidious lie that everything is fine, while scribbling his real thoughts in a secret journal he must carefully hide away.

When one brutal, shattering night finally reveals cracks in the façade, Zane begins to understand that some people are willing to face the truth, even when it hurts. As he grows into manhood and builds a new kind of family, he will find that while the darkness of his past may always shadow him, it will also show him what is necessary for good to triumph—and give him strength to draw on when he once again must stand up and defend himself and the ones he loves…