The Lockhart Women by Mary Camarillo doesn’t read as a debut novel. She captures the epitome of a modern dysfunctional family. Stranded through the novel is the television coverage of the 1994-1995 O.J. Simpson murder and later his robbery trials, and each woman becomes obsessed in her own way with the televised legal morass. The reader can see the parallels between the life of the high-and-mighty Simpson and that of this commonplace family and realize that domestic abuse crosses all classes.
The character development is excellent, showing how a wife and two daughters handle the father moving out to live with a new love. His loss is more than an emotional deprivation as it increases their emotional stressors as it cuts their income and forces them to move to a less desirable neighborhood. The main characters are the mother (Brenda), the older, more serious daughter (Peggy), and the younger, more flighty daughter (Allison). Though they never seem particularly close-knit as a family, the sudden change in their lifestyle causes an increasing distance between them.
Told in alternating points of view, the novel shows the inner workings of the three women, their motivations, their consistently poor judgment (even Peggy’s part) and misplaced loyalties to men who aren’t worthy. The men here, with one exception, are egocentric, poor providers, physically and/or mentally abusive, and heavily into alcohol or drugs. The ending is satisfyingly rich as these women overcome their emotional issues and become their best selves, strong and emotionally independent.
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The Lockhart Women (She Writes Press, June 1, 2021) is available through:
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