Sleepwalking in Daylight

by Elizabeth Flock

Samantha Friedman is a stay-at-home mom with a killer bod and an awful marriage. And her teen daughter, Cammy, dresses in Goth attire and does drugs.

Samantha whines about her dead marriage. She whines about her troubled daughter. But she does nothing about either problem. Instead, she walks around in a haze, wondering where she went wrong. She is sleepwalking in daylight.

Cammy is also sleepwalking in daylight. She's struggling with the idea that she's adopted. She wants to find her mother. She wants to fit in. She wants to feel loved. Instead, she takes drugs to stop feeling anything.

Yes, Samantha and Cammy are quite a pair. Their story is told with alternating points of view; Cammy's is a little less annoying to read. Neither character is sympathetic. In fact, I could not stand either of them. And the more I think about it, the less I like this novel.

7/1/09