Hi Friends! Looking for an interesting book to add to your summer TBR pile? I’ve got one for you!

The Precious Jules is the second novel by Shawn Nocher that has riveted my attention. (To read my take on her debut, A Hand to Hold in Deep Water, click here. ) The premise alone (see below) intrigued me. I’ve never run across a story idea quite like this one, which is refreshing and hard to come by. Once hooked on the premise, from its first pages The Precious Jules enticed me onward with the ever-present question, What’s going to happen next? The answer, almost always, took me completely by surprise.

I love a rich, multi-layered story of family secrets, and in The Precious Jules, these abound. My interest was heightened by the multi-faceted, multi-voiced narrative, each one offering a unique take on the goings-on. Nocher handled that complexity deftly. Interestingly, there wasn’t a single character I completely loved, so flawed are they all, but it’s easy to identify with pieces of every one.

I think what fascinated me about The Precious Jules, and books like it, is the thoughtful exploration of the connection between childhood experiences and their felt consequences in adulthood. How trauma affects the human psyche, whether said traumas are recognized or not. And the possibility of beauty rising from ashes. The hope that brokenness is not the end of the story, but that redemption is.

Nocher’s gift for delivering the unexpected, along with her elegant writing style, drew me back to read more and more — even in a season when I didn’t have as much time to read as I’d prefer. This, plus the way she so masterfully assembled and resolved her story, kept me spellbound. From a writerly perspective, so well done.

Much as I enjoyed it, however, as with any book I recommend, know that this book isn’t for everyone. The Precious Jules grapples with some pretty weighty subjects, and my impression was of a hostile view of Christianity, which was sometimes a hard pill to swallow. But if, as I do, you enjoy meaty, layered, complex family dramas in the vein of novels by Ann Patchett, this sophisticated sophomore offering may be for you.

About this book

After nearly two hundred years of housing retardants, as they were once known, the Beechwood Institute is closing the doors on its dark history, and the complicated task of reassigning residents has begun. Ella Jules, having arrived at Beechwood at the tender age of eight, must now rely on the state to decide her future. Ella’s aging parents have requested that she be returned to her childhood home, much to the distress of Ella’s siblings, but more so to Lynetta, her beloved caretaker who has been by her side for decades. The five adult Jules children, haunted by their early memories of their sister, and each dealing with the trauma of her banishment in their own flawed way, are converging on the family home, arriving from the far corners of the country―secrets in tow―to talk some sense into their aging parents and get to the root of this inexplicable change of heart.

The Precious Jules examines the thin line between selfishness and what passes for love. This family story asks what is best for one child in light of what is perceived as the greater good, and just what is the collective legacy of buried family secrets, shame, and helplessness. The Precious Jules is a deeply felt family narrative that will make you fall in love with these flawed and imperfect characters standing on the threshold of an awakening they never expected.

About the author

Shawn Nocher (pronounced No-Shay) is the author of the critically acclaimed novel A Hand to Hold in Deep Water. Her short stories and nonfiction articles have been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, Pithead Chapel, MoonPark Review, Writer’s Digest, and Electric Literature, among others.

She teaches in the master of arts writing program at Johns Hopkins University, has given wings to two children, and lives with her husband and an assortment of sassy rescue animals in Baltimore, Maryland, where she writes in a room of her own. The Precious Jules is her second novel. Learn more at shawnnocher.com.

Buy the book here.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.