The term helicopter parents describes adults who hover over their children, controlling their actions. We have a new term to describe these A-type individuals: snowplow parents, those who go even farther, aggressively removing anything and everyone in their children’s paths ensuring an unimpeded journey into adulthood.
Kay and Janus Jansen are snowplow parents even though – surprise! – they’re not Americans. By day Janus is an accountant, by night, an author. When his first novel unexpectedly becomes a bestseller in Australia, the book is optioned by a Hollywood producer. Janus is hired to write the screenplay. He sells his family on an adventure, moving thousands of miles away for the summer so he can work on the screenplay and his family can enjoy a magical time in Los Angeles.
The horror movie Janus is writing becomes all too real when his daughter, Olivia – Liv – does something unspeakable. Janus and Liv’s mother, Kay, must pick up the pieces, hiding what has happened even from their teenage son, Casper. Liv’s room is nailed shut, ostensibly because of mold, but really to hide the tragedy. Whenever the house is empty, Kay gathers cleaning supplies – a bucket, cloths, brushes, and bleach – and goes to work on the room’s floor. But the blood stains are tough and she’s never certain she will ever remove them.
Anna Snoekstra’s The Ones We Love may make some parents uncomfortable confronting their own approach to parenting. What Liv did was unspeakable and certainly invited some parental action. But covering up a real crime? How many parents would go that distance? What about small things? Is it ever OK to cover up after a child?
Liv had been to a gala, the closing night for the Los Angeles Designer Showcase. Liv and her friend, Leilani, hope to be designers and see the evening as a way to network. But too many drinks leads to disaster. Liv wakes up in her room without remembering how she got there. She’s hungover, but what really freaks her out are the bruises all over her body, especially on her chest. When she asks her mother what happened, Kay responds: “We can’t ever talk about it.” Janus is even less helpful, and Casper was at swim camp.
Kay believes she’s helping her daughter by not disclosing what actually happened. But freezing Liv out makes the situation worse, isolating the young woman whose nightmares about what she might have done lead to her sleepwalking. Is that what happened? Did she sleepwalk, hurt someone, and now can’t remember? The only one she can talk to is Austin, a Berkeley student who lives across the street and is home for the summer. Afraid to sleep, Liv begins showing up at Austin’s house, letting herself in (she used to babysit for his younger sister and knows where the key is hidden), hoping he can protect her.
Casper is upset because he’s not going back to Australia for the summer. Even though his parents have shut him out, he and his friend, Tye, know something is wrong in the Jansen home and begin to investigate. One of Casper’s discoveries finally forces Janus and Kay to explain what Liv has done. But the situation gets worse.
Kay receives notes left in the mailbox from someone who saw what she and Janus did. If she doesn’t pay $10,000, the blackmailer will go to the police. While Janus received an advance from the film studio, that money is nearly gone. He won’t receive any more until he can turn in an acceptable script. The distraction caused by Liv’s event, makes it difficult for Janus to concentrate. Kay, a former ballet dancer, works as a pilates instructor, but what she makes is not enough to replenish their bank account. Kay had a falling out with her mother when she married Janus. But asking her for the money seems to be the only way out. Will her mother agree?
In their small neighborhood, nothing stays secret for long. Kay can’t help but believe one of her new friends is the blackmailer. She’s angry at Janus because he made her handle most of the coverup. What man does that? She begins to frequent a neighborhood eatery, nearly starting an affair with the owner. Instead, she packs her bags and leaves, not telling Janus or her children where she’s going. When something happens that places Liv in danger, who will save her?
Snoekstra’s characters feel real, almost too real, as they react to situations that spiral out of control. This novel would make a great book club pick for parent groups who can discuss what makes a family fall apart. Liv’s action was a symptom of something that was not working in the Jansen household. Communication, essential in marriages and in parenting, had stopped. No amount of snowplowing was going to help.
The Ones We Love
Anna Snoekstra
Top photo: Bigstock
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