Housewife Amanda Rio leads a seemingly normal life. She takes care of her husband Bobby and their 12-year-old daughter Mary in their quiet suburban neighborhood. She cooks, cleans and shops like any other homemaker. But her life is a continual nightmare. Amanda lives with a monster: her husband Bobby. The burly man has a short fuse and he frequently takes out his frustrations on his wife. She seeks the help of a trusted priest and manages to convince her husband to begin couples counseling after Bobby inadvertently injures his daughter during one of his tirades. However, Amanda's relationships with two different younger men threaten the Rio's marriage and her own safety. This character-driven story explores Amanda's efforts to repair her marriage, and her self-destructive personality that complicates her quest. The only thing she wants is to live a safe and happy life. But her own foolish impulses may destroy her dream.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Steven Donahue is a staff writer for a national television magazine. A graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, he has a B.A. in Journalism. He makes his home in Southampton, Pa. with his wife and daughter. Amanda Rio is his first novel.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Novel of Domestic Violence - Excellent Character Study,
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This review is from: Amanda Rio (Hardcover)
Author Steven Donahue tackles the pivotal issue of domestic violence in his novel "Amanda Rio." Amanda, an attractive woman in her early thirties, married her high school boyfriend, Bobby Rio, when she was eighteen. Twelve year-old Mary is their only child. The Rios are a seemingly happy family - she's a stay-at-home mom, he is an independent contractor with his own business. But beneath Bobby's charming demeanor, rage simmers and he explodes into violence when it hits the boiling point. He cannot control himself. Rio has frequently endangered his wife's health, and her life, in the years they have been together. Now the situation has become worse. He has put his beloved daughter in the hospital.
Amanda has issues of her own. She continuously complicates her life by engaging in self-destructive, self-defeating behavior which seems to thwart her deepest desires. She fantasizes about her high school days, long ago, when she was a cheer leader and Bobby a football player - the most romantic couple on campus. She is an honest woman, very genuine, but usually winds up on the wrong side of every door. Amanda is quite impulsive and flirts with men, and boys, almost compulsively. Excessive drinking and keeping her own anger in rein are issues. Bobby is a good man at heart. He is not mean, but he is controlling. He loves his wife and daughter, however, like most violent people, he grew up surrounded by violence. He was a victim also. The couple wants to keep their marriage together. They have committed to do so. Bobby has joined an anger management group and they have entered couples counseling with a trusted priest. The author's character driven narrative is simply told, in a linear manner. The protagonists are well developed, three-dimensional people with some serious flaws - but they are likeable people too. Donahue doesn't over dramatize the violence, which is certainly dramatic enough, by concentrating on blood and gore. Instead he focuses on the love the couple has for each other, and for their daughter, and the anguish they both feel. The writing is not tight, however, and this is a problem. In an effort to show the quotidian, Donahue bogs down the narrative with excessive, repetitious, mundane details - what is eaten for breakfast each morning, who brushes their teeth in which bathroom, the daily list of household chores, who orders what at the restaurant, etc.. I think the novel would greatly improve with editing. There were times that I was about to put the book aside for the above reasons, but I was caught-up in the compelling characters and their story. I would have rated the novel 3 Stars, but I was riveted enough to continue reading late into the night. Check out the book at a local store, or your library, so you can glance through it and read a few pages before you decide to buy. A fascinating topic and characters - and a surprise ending. Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women. Every 9 seconds a women is beaten in the United States. JANA
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