Before I begin this review, I would like to extend a warm and gracious thank you to the author, Jo-Ann Mapson, for providing me with a complimentary copy of "The Owl & Moon Café" in exchange for a lengthy, honest, well-written review. As promised Jo-Ann here's the review below....My Review:I was interested by the cover and it's art, then intrigued by it's blurb, and by the time I finished, I declared it should be used as a reference guide to a sociology or biology major for their senior thesis or Ph.D. dissertation. This novel has no one genre but instead several: science fiction, chick lit, and literary fiction. Jo-Ann Mapson has created characters that are so remarkable, they're practically engrained in your brain; the plot just adds to what was already a great book; and the love of science she obviously has correlates with another topic that she seemingly holds near and dear to her heart. Leukemia. My only issues with this novel that stopped me from giving it the five stars it deserved were: 1) how I felt Mariah was a one dimensional, bland character; 2) I didn't like the idea of the Scotsman. He seemed out of place with the novel and just plain weird; 3)The lack of recipes for the appealing, mouthwatering "Chocolate Cherry Thunder Fudge" and the appetizing soups; and 4) The setting of the novel didn't fit with the storyline. I imagined this taking place in a more hustle and bustle type city like Portland or Seattle or Minneapolis. Besides these minor infractions, this book was great and I'd be interested to read Mapson's other work. I judge a book not by it's cover (no pun intended) but by the following, with each star rating representing each one: Content, Characters, Language/Vernacular, Ability to Set a Theme/Plot/Setting, and Association to the Real World. So briefly let me explain the synopsis.The novel takes place at the turn of the 21st century (an indirect indication: Mariah Moon was born 1967 and is thirty-three years old. Do the math!)and Mariah Moon has just lost her job as a college professor, subsequently losing her apartment because of bills piling up. So she decides on Plan B: to waitress for tips at her family's café, The Owl & Moon Café, while living with her genius twelve year old daughter, Lindsay, her fifty year old hippie, free-spirited mother, Allegra (whose birth name is Alice) and her wise sixty-eight year old grandmother, whom is affectionately referred to as Gammy. The Owl & Moon Café provides more than nourishment for the diehard customers that frequent there but instead it becomes a lifeline, a support system for the family. As Allegra battles leukemia, she has a secret she's been able to keep up until that point: her doctor, Al, once a hippie, is the birth father of Mariah, who is the product of a one night stand between Allegra and Al. Lindsay, Mariah's daughter and Allegra's granddaughter, is stunned by Allegra's diagnosis and uses the information as the basis for a controversial science fair project. She partners with her one and only friend Sally and with the help of the gardener that is employed on Sally's farm, they grow marijuana and uses it as their controlled variables and test subjects to figure out how it helps leukemia and Allegra.Content: 1/1- Insightful to say the least when talking about leukemia and the issues of the legalization of marijuana, the high death rate and among other things how it affects a person's physical health. I'm not one who is an avid fan of science fiction but ever so often I like to dabble in it, to get the brain cells going and this book was completely worth reading because of it's knowledge (Mapson obviously researched the topic thoroughly) and Mapson using her characters as mirrors to how it affects the family around you.Characters: 0.5/1- I only had an issue with Mariah, who seemed indecisive, negative, ashamed of her family and judgmental. She really began to nag me. Lindsay's chapters at times forced me to get through them and I even dozed off quite a few times! Thankfully, Gammy and Allegra's personalities and their chapters were enough to keep me turning the pages. The spats between Simon and Gammy were priceless as I kept laughing and giggling. Language/Vernacular: 1/1- The story was told in third person omniscient and I felt that was the best and most necessary choice what with all of the controversial issues and family drama going on. Mapson told the story as concise and clear as possible and that means she succeeded in being able to enrapture the reader.Ability to Set A Theme, Plot or Setting: 0.5/1- I wasn't able to quite grasp why Monterey Bay was chosen as the setting for the novel when I imagined it in a much more hustle and bustle type of city. Mapson attempted to make it work but it sort of fell flat.Association to the Real World: 1/1- Leukemia is a controversial topic in itself but it's one of those things that families are prepared to be threatened by. I see it as a way for everyone young and old to research how you can become involved in beating leukemia besides chemotherapy or radiation. Even researching the medicinal effects, advantages and disadvantages of marijuana and why it's only legal in Alaska and Colorado, is a great place to start!Overall, the book was decent. More than decent. Superb! I recommend that everyone read it. It'll change the way you think about illnesses and diseases and maybe even bring you closer to your families. Final star rating: 4!
I’m afraid this book was a bit of a disappointment for me. In this case it would partially be due to reader expectations. The book was recommended to me as a novel with elements of magical realism in it which, alas, never appeared. Instead we have the story of four women who are forced to live together over the family owned café. We have Gammy the bible spouting “elder’ of the clan and her daughter, Allegra who is an aging hippie about to be diagnosed with leukemia. Rounding out the cast of characters we have Allegra‘s daughter Mariah a recently unemployed college professor and her daughter Lindsey are forced to live with Allegra due to the job loss. Mariah comes across as a bitter, pinched sort of soul while 12 year old precocious Lindsey appears to be the most mature of the four women.What I liked about the story was Lindsey and her decision to discuss the use of medical marijuana as a science project as Lindsey watched her grandmother become sicker and sicker due to her treatments. The author was careful to mention that Allegra had tried a wide variety of medications to try and stem the nausea including Marinol and that none of them had been effective so it was logical for Lindsey to consider medical marijuana. Lindsey was probably, for me the most accurately drawn of the characters. Her feelings and emotions as a middle schooled rang true for me. Some of Mariah’s emotions also seemed to ring true as well. I did understand why she was resentful of her mother and her newly found father even though she was a 34 year old woman.What didn’t work for me were the sketchily drawn personalities of the older characters. Grammy was a walking stereotype of the older Christian woman constantly praying for the souls of her sinner relatives and co-worker. She was so heavy handed in fact I was amazed that Simon the gay cook had managed to work for her all those years or that the café managed to attract return customers. Then we have Allegra, the epitome of aging hippydom who meditates, has her chakras adjusted etc and yet who then seems to settle pretty comfortably into the life of being a doctor’s fiancé. The doctor, incidentally, just happens to be her one true love from 33 years ago and Mariah’s father, a touch too much of a coincidence for me. She barely protests his huge house or gas guzzling cars and seems more than happy to give up her life at the café even though at one point she mourns the loss of her daily social contacts there. Yet, hippie that she allegedly is she refuses to smoke the marijuana that would help in her recovery and stimulate her appetite and for the most contrived of reasons. We are told constantly throughout the book that she will not become healthy again unless she eats and gains weight so after a certain point I just felt like hitting her over the head and yelling “smoke already”. Finally we have Mariah who is bitterly uptight. I was amazed she was able to attract Fergus as she came across the page as a really unsympathetic somewhat self absorbed individual and yet we are expected to believe this man would court her and then ultimately fall in love with her. I also had difficulty with the fact that Mariah would on a nightly basis abandon both her daughter and her sick mother to the care of Gammy, who was constantly being described as being in poor health herself due to her varicose veins. Because I never really felt attached to any of the characters except Lindsey I cannot really recommend this book unless you are looking for a simple feel good story.Oh and one last nitpicky point – while Carmel by the Sea is the name of the town no one refers to it by its full name. This admittedly minor point drove me nuts throughout the book.
What do You think about The Owl & Moon Cafe (2006)?
This wasn't bad. I was a little skeptical at first, kind of worried that we were in romance/"women's lit" territory, which isn't usually my cup of tea, but it didn't end up being too romancy for me. Despite there being two big romance stories (one with a superrich doctor and one with a ruggedly handsome Scot) (seriously) (I mean... could that stuff be any more cliché?). There were other storylines that reeled me in though, and while the line of "finding my perfect mate will solve ALL THE THINGS wrong in my life!" was certainly trod, it wasn't overdone. The focus was mainly on the three younger generations of Moon women and their lifestuff + relationships with each other. The youngest was my favourite, my penchant for YA lit showing I guess. The whole book did feel a little like a public service announcement against health insurance companies and pro medical marijuana. There was a fourth "elderly" Moon, Gammy, but we never had a chapter from her point of view so I would consider her more of a supporting character. And can we just take a moment to note that sixty-eight is not elderly? Cripes. She was written like an ninety-eight year old from pioneer days, but the women I know in their mid-sixties are not exactly at the crone stage of life. Maybe being in your sixties was a lot worse back in... when was this published? 2006? Oh. Well maybe this was written a lot earlier than that, I think it must have been because no one breathed a word about mobile phones. So yeah... a few things didn't make a lot of sense, a few characters were less well developed than others, and it was definitely a deliberate heard-string-puller but I enjoyed most of it anyway. Also, now I want cookies.
—Christine
otAfter losing her teaching position at the local university, Mariah Moon will do anything to keep her gifted twelve-year-old daughter, Lindsay, in a prestigious private school -- which means moving in with her mother and grandmother in an apartment above The Owl & Moon Café. When her mother, Allegra, is diagnosed with leukemia, Mariah rises to the challenge of running the café: mastering her mother's famous fudge and chatting up customers -- including a man who might just reawaken her heart.ot01/18/09 – 6 – It was a cute story. I finished it over the weekend.
—Carol
As far as a work of fiction goes, this book is pretty decent. The characters are all complete opposites, yet they come together nicely, in a way that somehow complements each other. The story line revolves around a four generation family of women. Gammy, the oldest, is a devoutly religious woman who is constantly praying for the salvation of her daughter's soul. Her daughter, Allegra, is an old school hippie with no fear of getting arrested for the right cause. Allegra's daughter, Mariah, is a more conservative woman, a recently unemployed college sociology professer. The final member of the family is Lindsay, a junior high child prodigy of sorts, who worries over everything, and often finds herself trying to keep her family functioning from day to day.The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Allegra, Mariah and Lindsay. Each woman is facing her own personal battles, along with trying to cope with life on a daily basis. I read a customer review of this book somewhere (I can't remember which website I read it on) and the reviewer wrote that this book was terrible, and that so many issues were raised which were never given any resolution. Having just finished the book, I would have to strongly disagree. In my opinion, all the issues were touched upon, and dealt with. If no answer was directly given, readers are at least left with the sense that the Moon family is going to triumph once again. The book ends on a note that is hopeful and positive, and you realize that everything will go as it should. At least that's the feeling I walked away with.
—Bethany Andrews
