You know those books where the character you’re rooting for makes a bad decision and you just want to jump into the book and shake them by the shoulders and point out their folly? This book was kind of like that, except I wanted to jump into the book and hug the main character and tell her: it’s okay, you’re not the only person who feels that way and it will get better, I promise.

The protagonist is the SAHM of two young children and she is struggling with the tedium and inexorability of motherhood. McLarin describes it with painful accuracy; anyone who has ever been driven batty by the daily demands of a three-year-old will surely recognize themselves in this book. Of course she fantasizes about running off and abandoning them. What SAHM hasn’t?

Fortunately Jump at the Sun isn’t just about the daily demands, etc. It also has history, flashbacks, sociology & race relations, life, death, marriage, and lots of other good stuff. But it is mainly about parenting, and if you’re a bookish introvert who has ever chafed at the bonds of motherhood you will definitely appreciate this novel. You might not love it. The plot twists were a little too convenient, and the language at times was a little unbelievable (okay she’s an academic, but does that really give her the right to use the word enchiridion to describe a parenting book?). But you will definitely appreciate it.