Title: Neglect by Kim Wozencraft
Publisher: Skyhorse
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction
Length: 346 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
From the bestselling author of Rush comes a redemptive story of a young mother at war on two fronts.
From bestselling author Kim Wozencraft comes the story of a young mother at war on two fronts: first as a soldier in Afghanistan and then upon her return to rural Granite County, New York, where one terrible mistake threatens her family and her sanity.
Erin Hill enlists in the Army Reserve in an act of desperation. She and her husband have both lost their jobs and their marriage is disintegrating. Assured that the odds of deployment are extremely low, Erin now finds herself on an Army base in the middle of a combat zone, where it’s sometimes hard to tell who the enemy is—especially when a respected sergeant turns predator.
When Erin returns stateside and reunites with her family, her battle for survival truly begins. Flooded with traumatic memories, with no prospects for jobs or treatment for PTSD, her husband involved with a new woman, Erin falls into the bottle head-first. After a nearly fatal night of despair, she is swept up into a vast and indifferent bureaucracy that threatens to take her children from her—forever. Neglect is a profound story of mother love.
Review:
Neglect by Kim Wozencraft is a heartbreaking novel of a woman broken by poverty and war then finds herself trapped in a bureaucratic nightmare to regain custody of her children.
Erin Hill is a college professor barely eking out a living when she impulsively decides to enlist in the Army National Guard. Her husband Eddy is furious and their already precarious marriage worsens. Despite assurances by the recruiter she will never see battle, Erin’s unit is sent on a six month deployment to Afghanistan. She desperately misses her twins, Paul and Lindsey but she finds friendship with two other women. Erin is assaulted by someone in a leadership position, she endures an unbearable loss and is haunted by a tragic mistake. Erin’s return home is less than joyful as she struggles to find a job and she fights PTSD with little help except for self-medicating herself with alcohol. Eddy abandons her and their children and utterly overwhelmed, Erin makes a decision that could cost her everything she holds dear.
Erin is no stranger to loss and dire finances, but after she comes back from war, she is no longer able to cope. Although she knows all too well what drinking can do to families and marriages, alcohol is the only thing that calms her frantic thoughts. Eddy seizes on her drinking to finally walk out on her but she is grateful to have Paul and Lindsey. Despite her deep love for her now ten-year-old twins, Erin makes a drunken choice that has unanticipated consequences.
Erin’s sister Tanya comes to her rescue more than once, but since they do not live in the same state, she is mostly on her own. Erin will do anything to bring her children home, but she must navigate the many obstacles the social service system puts in her path. Just as she believes she is one step closer to regaining custody, Erin must complete one more never-ending set of arbitrary tasks dictated by the court system. Eddy is also part of the problem and she is frustrated by his control over her and their children’s lives.
Neglect is an incredibly well-written, captivating novel that provides an unflinching and eye-opening view of the ravages of war, poverty and the unforgiving social service bureaucracy. Erin is a very relatable woman that is deeply flawed. The various systems fail her as she initially seeks help from the VA for her PTSD then by child protective services as it continually moves the goal posts. But determination and a strong will to be reunited with her children is a powerful motivation for Erin to finally begin to confront her demons. With a clever act of revenge yielding unexpected results, Kim Wozencraft brings this emotionally compelling novel to a hopeful conclusion.
