Book Review: TOMORROW THERE WILL BE SUN

Title: Tomorrow There Will Be Sun

Author: Dana Reinhardt
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Pages: 288

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐

Tomorrow There Will Be Sun represents the hope of the protagonist, Jenna Carson, that no matter how rainy and dreary the situation may be today, it could all change for the better on the morrow.

Jenna books her own family and that of her husband Peter’s best friend Solly into a villa in Mexico. It is supposed to be a week-long dream vacation with breathtaking ocean views and unlimited margaritas. Solly’s family consists of his wife, Ingrid, their 5-year-old son Ivan, and 17-year-old Malcolm, Solly’s son from his first wife, Maureen.

They are here to celebrate Peter’s 50^th birthday, three days later, and Solly’s too, some months hence.

As expected, the dream vacation quickly unravels. Jenna’s daughter, 17-year-old Clem, spends most of her time online, distant from her parents, or in the company of Malcolm, who has been in trouble with the authorities and has been expelled from his school. On the very first day, Peter gets a call from Gavriella, his gorgeous assistant and lies to Jenna about the nature of the call. Could he be having an affair?

To complicate matters further, Jenna is dissatisfied about a number of things. Having published three successful YA books, she is unhappy at facing writer’s block while she works on her fourth, already two months overdue for submission to her publisher. On the other hand, Ingrid, at work on her first book, is breezing ahead with inspiration at 1000 words a day and has turned out a fabulous book.

Also, Jenna has recovered from cancer, a fact that Peter doesn’t seem to take seriously.

She is also displeased with how much Solly seems to take Peter for granted. They are business partners, but Peter works longer hours while Solly earns more.

No matter how hard she tries, it seems as if all that Jenna touches turns bad: her relationship with her daughter, with her husband, even her writing. Will this dream vacation tighten the bonds that hold families and couples together or will it undo everything that Jenna has worked hard to build?

The week of the dream vacation coincides with the culmination of the Christian period of Lent, the Holy Week. But since the characters were either Jewish or atheist, the symbolism that might have been utilized to good effect was not capitalized on.

I felt sorry for Malcolm, who feels out of place in his father’s new family, and whose efforts are snubbed.

I liked the fact that Jenna was a writer, worried about characters and plot, voices and narratives and story arcs.

The action, however, isn’t all that interesting, and the dynamic between the couples doesn’t hold more than a passing interest.

(I received an ARC from First to Read).