Review: Belong to Me

I finished Belong to Me by Marisa de los Sontos a little over a week ago, but for some reason forgot to post about it until now.  This novel reminded me of a nice (though not too extravagant) glass of wine you want to drink slowly so as to acknowledge its subtle pleasures and prolong the satisfying experience of tasting it.  As such, I read this book over the course of about three weeks, savouring every last sip.  

The protagonist is a delightful woman named Cornelia, with whom I want more than anything to be friends.  Finally someone else who obsesses over random movies from the '50s and ruins her reputation by blurting out *seemingly* brilliant quirks that fail miserably as jokes.  Why oh why oh why oh why do such people always have to be fictional?  

Belong to Me tells of Cornelia's constantly evolving relationships with her neighbour Piper, friend Lake, and Lake's son Dev.  The novel's themes are as old as humanity itself:  the search for belonging, the true meaning of family, the strength of love and friendship.  Yet the charming, believable characters allow these subjects to seem fresh and insightful.  In a nut shell, Cornelia moves to the suburbs with her husband Teo in hopes of replicating for her future children the charmed life she led as a child.  Instead, she is forced to re-think her idea of what a "perfect" family is.  The novel is not as harsh on suburbia as I was expecting it to be; instead of American Beauty-esq archetypal familial hatred, there are authentic depictions of how love can spring up in the most unexpected places.  By being open to this love and following their hearts no matter how difficult it may be to do so, the characters in the novel learn that true 'perfect homes' are built internally, fostered by mindful devotion to kindness in the face of compromise, compassion in the face of ridicule. 

I can't wait to read de los Sonto's first novel, Love Walked In, which I recently learned is also about Teo and Cornelia.