Book Review: One More Foxtrot
One More Foxtrot. Joyce Hicks. Encore Books, October 19, 2017, Trade Paperback and E-book, 248 pages.
Reviewed by Renee James.
In a pop culture media world devoted to sex, violence, and instant gratification, Joyce Hicks writes quiet, charming stories about an elderly Indiana woman and her family that delight and amuse us, and remind us of the best moments in our own lives.
In One More Foxtrot, Betty Miles is spreading her wings as a septuagenarian widow in Chicago while her daughter, Sharon D'Angelo, is back in Elkhart, Indiana, trying to launch her own bakery business and maintain solid relationships with her husband and in-laws. Mother and daughter share concerns about each other, and even some guilt about being apart, but they are both on paths of self-realization—Betty, exploring the worlds of art and culture that had been invisible to her during decades of life as a homemaker and mother, and Sharon, trying to make a career out of her great passion for baking.
Life for both of them is a series of small conflicts that flare up and die and we settle into a pleasant, interesting story with a distinctive Midwestern pace and flavor. Then a young college student shows up at Sharon's bakery, claiming to be related to her, and sharing her passion for baking. From this point on, One More Foxtrot becomes a story about family secrets, as Betty tries to shield Sharon from the truth about an affair her late husband had, and Sharon contemplates telling her mother about her father's other family. The ensuing drama is engaging—sometimes gripping, sometimes fun, and always interesting—as Ms. Hicks takes us on a lovely ride through a modern Middle America that is as real as it is entertaining.
Joyce Hicks is a wonderful wordsmith and storyteller. Her prose is clear and easy to read, her characters lovingly drawn, her dialogue lean and moving, yet just as real as the chatter in a beauty salon. The book is filled with humor—mostly quiet humor that makes you smile and maybe think of people and events from your own life. It's also a tale in which all of the characters have strengths and flaws, which makes this narrative textured, complex, and a lot like life itself.
One More Foxtrot picks up on the lives of Betty and Sharon where Ms. Hicks' first book left off. Escape from Assisted Living is set a year earlier, when Betty decides she's got plenty of life left in her and runs off to Chicago to see what she can see. One More Foxtrot can be fully enjoyed without having read the first book, but you'll want to read them both, in any order.
I recommend One More Foxtrot very highly, especially to readers of women's fiction. It is realistic, fun, sophisticated and yet simple, and a great companion for one's quiet moments with a hot drink and an easy chair.