Book ~ "Good to a Fault" (2008) Marina Endicott

From Goodreads ~ Clara Purdy is at a crossroads. At forty-three, she is divorced, living in her late parents' house, and nearing her twentieth year as a claims adjuster at a local insurance firm. Driving to the bank during her lunch hour, she crashes into a sharp left turn, taking the Gage family in the other car with her. 

When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara decides to do the right thing. She moves Lorraine's three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house - and then has to cope with the consequences of practical goodness: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love. 

Clara is divorced, living in her late parents' house and in her early forties.  She's has a boring job with an insurance company and there is no purpose to her life.  One day she is involved in a car accident, which wasn't her fault.  In the other car is a family ... a father, mother, three young children and the father's mother.  The mother is put in the hospital and Clara takes the rest of the family home to her house as they have nowhere else to go (they were on their way from Winnipeg to Fort McMurray and living in their car).

It's discovered that Lorraine, the mother, has cancer and has to stay in the hospital for treatment.  The father steals Clara's car and money and takes off, leaving her with his three kids and his cranky mother.  Rather than throw them out, Clara takes some time off from work to take care of them with the help of her elderly next door neighbour and Lorraine's brother who has come to town when he hears his sister is sick.  Clara's life has definitely changed.

I love to read and I usually know right away if I am going to "get into" a book or not and finish reading it.  With this one, I was on the fence but I kept going.

It's almost 400 pages and it seemed like a long story.  I found the writing style and story made it a lot of work to read.  When I read, I usually just have one book on the go.  With this one, I had to keep putting it aside and read something else for a break.

Even though Clara was finding purpose in her life, I found the story too much of a downer.  I didn't find the characters likable and I wasn't feeling sorry for their dire situations.  Paul the Anglican priest and the cranky grandmother were tiresome.

I made it to the halfway point before I couldn't take it anymore and finally gave up.