HOT READ
Untitled Page
‘Freeways to Flip-Flops’
An O.C. family ditches suburban life for a tropical paradise.
By Steven M. ThomasPublished: December 01, 2012
This memoir has several things going for it, including the great title, which was suggested to local author Sonia Marsh by a friend, and a gripping adventure story about a family that gives up the pleasures and pastimes of O.C. for life on a tropical island in Central America.
The Marsh family was disintegrating in the Southern California sun with a too-busy father, dissatisfied mother and one son clearly headed for trouble. But when they sell their possessions and move to Belize to regroup, they discover that trading one paradise for another has not gotten rid of hellish complications. In fact, the heat, humidity, insects, primitive conditions and sense of dislocation at first seem to make the family’s problems worse.
The book opens with Sonia Marsh and her husband panicking as a tropical storm strands them on the island while their three sons are adrift on the mainland unreachable by phone.
“Why the hell did we leave Orange County and move to this godforsaken island where our lives were now at risk?” Sonia asks herself. “Did I really think this was going to save my family?”
In the end, the year abroad does restore the Marsh family and bring its members closer as they work together to overcome shared misfortunes and learn to appreciate each other – and life – in new and different ways.
MORE GREAT READS
‘Have Mother, Will Travel: A Mother and Daughter Discover Themselves, Each Other, and the World’
By Claire and Mia Fontaine
William Morrow, 2012, $24.99
The duo visits 20 cities in 12 countries in five months.
‘Bright Lights, No City: An African Adventure on Bad Roads With a Brother and a Very Weird Business Plan’
By Max Alexander
Hyperion, 2012, $24.99
Two brothers try to launch an improbable business in the wilds of Ghana.
‘Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail’
By Cheryl Strayed
Knopf, 2012, $25.95
This chronicles an arduous journey from the Mojave Desert to the Bridge of the Gods taken by a young woman in search of herself.
|
||||
|
The Marsh family was disintegrating in the Southern California sun with a too-busy father, dissatisfied mother and one son clearly headed for trouble. But when they sell their possessions and move to Belize to regroup, they discover that trading one paradise for another has not gotten rid of hellish complications. In fact, the heat, humidity, insects, primitive conditions and sense of dislocation at first seem to make the family’s problems worse. The book opens with Sonia Marsh and her husband panicking as a tropical storm strands them on the island while their three sons are adrift on the mainland unreachable by phone. “Why the hell did we leave Orange County and move to this godforsaken island where our lives were now at risk?” Sonia asks herself. “Did I really think this was going to save my family?” In the end, the year abroad does restore the Marsh family and bring its members closer as they work together to overcome shared misfortunes and learn to appreciate each other – and life – in new and different ways. MORE GREAT READS ‘Have Mother, Will Travel: A Mother and Daughter Discover Themselves, Each Other, and the World’ By Claire and Mia Fontaine William Morrow, 2012, $24.99 The duo visits 20 cities in 12 countries in five months. ‘Bright Lights, No City: An African Adventure on Bad Roads With a Brother and a Very Weird Business Plan’ By Max Alexander Hyperion, 2012, $24.99 Two brothers try to launch an improbable business in the wilds of Ghana. ‘Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail’ By Cheryl Strayed Knopf, 2012, $25.95 This chronicles an arduous journey from the Mojave Desert to the Bridge of the Gods taken by a young woman in search of herself. |
||||
