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Lupe Klein is not Julia Roberts. She may look like Julia Roberts. She may have the same sense of humor as Julia Roberts. And she may find herself in the same situations as Julia Roberts. But she is not Julia Roberts. She is especially not the Julia Roberts who portrayed the astonishing stepmom in the movie of the same name. You remember, the one in which the real mom is dying of cancer and lovely Julia is waiting in the wings to mother her children and comfort her husband.
In this case, lovely Lupe is already married to Ward; his ex-wife Beatrix does not have cancer but is the victim of terminal control-freakitis. And his three sons have become the pawns in this all-too-typical blended family scenario.
While it's true that Loopy (the boys' nickname for her) could have benefited from a snappy scriptwriter, she does an admirable job of being stepmom to Ward's trying trio. Devin, Britt and Ollie are basically good kids, pushing the parental boundaries but willing to give her a fair chance if she doesn't crack under the strain. She does well considering that she never has had any children of her own to practice on.
I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS is not so much a novel as it is a series of episodes from "Knot's Landing" --- four or five yuppie couples live on a cul-de-sac, creating endless drama and striving to get their needs met regardless of who or what must be sacrificed. It is a distressing but accurate commentary on life in a culture where the divorce rate is over 50%. As a result, children in blended families are cast in roles they were never meant to play: monsters, matchmakers, gossip mongers. They also become understudies to the adults, and when they come of age, many are destined to continue the marriage, divorce and remarriage cycle.
If there is a lighter side to all of this, Laura Ruby has managed to find it and captures the essence of each gender and age group in a way that makes you smile knowingly or laugh out loud, depending on how long ago it was that you dealt with these problems. For example, Roxie is another of the "not Julia Roberts" moms and her daughter, Liv, enjoys making her life miserable. "….Liv discovered that devouring truck-loads of junk food in front of Roxie…she of the perpetual diet…was a far more effective and enjoyable brand of torture, especially since she could burn it all off with one good hissy fit."
Generously sprinkled with candid observations and comic relief, Laura Ruby has created a book with a serious theme and presented it in a way that is sure to comfort already-blended families and provide food for thought for those who have not yet taken that important step.
--- Reviewed by Maggie Harding, a substance abuse counselor in Phoenix, AZ who wanted to be Brenda Starr before life intervened. She reviews for www.faithfulreader.com and www.womenonwriting.com. To contact Maggie, e-mail Magster2@cox.net.
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