Review: The Bad, The Good and Two Fly-Fishing Women by Randy Kadish

ASIN #: B004GEB7G2

File Size: 58 KB

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

When her mother deserts her to be with a new man, Amanda is hurt and betrayed. She loses faith in the world. To soothe her pain, she retreats into fly fishing, until she learns that her loving grandmother has terminal cancer.

Amanda struggles to find answers. Then one day she discovers that her grandmother, against the doctor’s orders, has gone fishing somewhere on the Junction River. Frightened, Amanda, along with Shana, her adopted dog, and Vernon, a grieving alcoholic, searches the river—but marches into an unexpected, terrifying event that, in a surprising way, helps her learn to forgive and to see the good in the world.

Mandy's Review:

Cover

I like the photograph, but from the story you get the sense that Amanda is at least a teenager ... not an adult woman like what is depicted on the cover.

Plot/Main Characters

One grandmother, terminally ill with cancer, decides to go fly-fishing one last time before she meets her end.  One school girl, sensing something's wrong, leaves school early one day to go home and search for her grandmother.  Along the way, she encounters a man who helps her see another side of people and life while another man is intent on hurting her.

In the midst of this is Shana ... Amanda's ever-present companion and protector.  Will they find Amanda's grandmother?  If so, what exactly will they find when they reach her?

Overall

Despite its short length, the book exemplifies a few familiar addages: Things are not always as they appear, never judge a book by its cover and do not pre-judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.