Remember My Beauties by Lynne Hugo

"Somehow the choices in my life just made themselves, dragging me along behind them," says Jewel, the middle-aged main character in Remember My Beauties by Lynne Hugo. She's been doing everything for everyone, including her ailing parents, their stable of horses, her drug-addicted daughter, and her unappreciative husband. Then one day, Jewel decides enough is enough, and starts taking a stand for herself (and hacking off her hair in the process). Cal, her derelict brother who once tried to rape her when they were teens, comes back to town, and Jewel draws a line in the "horse manure" for her parents, who want to take him back in. Unfortunately, they choose their no-good son, and set off a division in the family, and in Jewel herself.

This story is full of hard-knock characters, some of which are easier to like than others. You'll find yourself rooting for Jewel's daughter, Carley, and her quest for sobriety, questioning the motives (and common sense) of Jewel's husband, Eddie, wondering what in the world Jewel's mom was thinking favoring Cal over Jewel, and wishing that Cal would just leave already and let everything return back to "normal." And then there's Jewel herself, trying to figure out how much fight is left in her, and who around her is worth fighting for. All throughout the novel are beautiful descriptions of the horses (including some chapters narrated by them) and the Kentucky landscape, and some great "Kentucky-isms," like "The whole part about moving in to take care of them was impulse as pure as honey and disaster thick as the same." A wonderful read that you will definitely "remember"!