Customer Reviews

Symmetry

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Jess has trichotillomania but what else she has is a very wonderful husband. I won't say what happens but I was so happy about the ending and the fact that Jess helped that young lady. I loved this book just as I love all Joyce's books. She pulls you into the characters and makes them come alive. I read a new book every week and as far as I am concerned Joyce's writing is up there with the best. I have a very good friend with trichotillomania and I just sent her this book for her birthday. I know just reading it is going to help her. Thank you Joyce, for bringing this to the attention of others. It's hard to get help when you have a mild form of it. Or at least it has been for my friend in the past.

Wonderful book that I would recommend for everyone to read.

`Life is messy, clean it up,' is a well-known sound byte from a product advertisement on television. Unfortunately, real life is more complicated, with enough twist and turns to make the most stalwart among us dizzy. In Joyce Scarbrough's novel, Symmetry, she has written a winner focusing on the complexity of life and the many facets of human relationships.

Jessica and Lee Cassady's life becomes more complicated when they come face-to-face with the realization that their marriage is not as perfect as it should have been. Jess has no doubt that Lee loves her, but his macho posturing has always been a source of irritation to her, and his inability to understand her needs suddenly becomes maddening when she calls his hotel room and a woman answers.

Scarbrough's book is not your ordinary romantic potboiler, for she has combined a wonderful story with some of the problems that many people have to live with on a daily basis. Jess has a hair-pulling condition called Trichotillomania, which is one of many types of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Her book is not only entertaining, but it serves to increase public awareness of this condition, as well as the many others that make some of us `different' from our friends. Having had cancer twice in my lifetime, I am well aware of support groups and what they can mean for someone suffering from afflictions beyond their control. Symmetry is well written, informative, and entertaining, and most important, it might open the eyes of many who are having trouble understanding the behavior of a loved one. The characters are real and the fast moving plot will keep you wanting more, I highly recommend this book and I suggest that you put it on your reading list. Symmetry is a novel you don't want to miss.

Symmetry is about Jess and her realization that she has trichotillomania, her pending divorce, and her relationship with family.

This book touched a nerve in me. I know second hand how it feels to be "different". My oldest son has been diagnosed with A.D.H.D, with possible Asperger's Syndrome, and there are days when I think he has O.C.D.

I love the characters and the drama of this book. It is an excellent read! I love how this book brings awareness to those who are "different" or might be labeled "freaks".

I know before reading even one page of Joyce Scarbrough's novels that they will be well-written, absorbing, and feature fascinating characters. To my list of descriptive terms for her latest book I can add "helpful and educational." In addition to her usual fine fiction, this time she shines a sensitive light on trichotillomania, a mental condition that is not as rare as readers might think.

Jessica Cassady is married to a delicious male animal. Lee Cassady has it all - rugged good looks, a delightful sense of humor, a successful career, and the sort of raw sensuality Jess finds irresistible. Recently, however, cracks have developed in Lee's glorious persona. Jess is tired of being the head groupie in his Road to Glory tour. She's tired of Lee's ceaseless drive to climb the ladder of success as a sports journalist, tired of what she sees as his total self-involvement, tired of playing second fiddle to his whims. All her resentments come to an explosive head when she calls Lee's hotel room and a drowsy woman answers the phone. Jess doesn't want to hear Lee's explanation. By the time he gets home from the conference, she's moved all his clothes out of the house and filed for divorce.

Jess is a strong-willed woman, but the shock of thinking Lee was unfaithful brings an increase in her hair pulling. She researches trichotillomania on the internet and embarks on a proven self-improvement plan. Jess pampers herself, renews an acquaintance with a man from her past, and struggles to ignore Lee's attempts at reconciliation. "Symmetry" has always been an important framework of Jess's life, but can she find any sort of balance without Lee? The outcome depends on Lee. Does he have a greater understanding of her needs than Jess thinks? And does she have some misconceptions of her own to work through? A suicidal young girl and Jess's domineering mother bring unexpected enlightenment.

Joyce Scarbrough has written this story of a troubled woman and a crumbling marriage with sensitivity and grace. It's a helpful, hopeful, and ultimately uplifting novel. Highly recommended to mature adolescents and adult readers.

Let me start by saying I've read every book Joyce Sterling Scarbrough has written, and she has never left me anything short of completely blown away. Ms. Scarbrough is brilliant; a master of her craft.
Symmetry is an amazing project in itself; that Ms. Scarbrough chose an illness like Trichotillomania for the fictional arena and managed to cover it so well is no small task. And she does so with humor, insight, and grit. And for the millions of Americans who battle this condition on a daily basis, Joyce makes it very clear that you are not crazy...and you definitely aren't alone. This is the only book of its kind that deals with the issue of compulsive hair-pulling in such a unique way, and it is beyond refreshing to see it in a fictional setting but also manage to teach at the same time. Brilliant!

So, do yourself a favor and curl up with this amazing book. You'll love the story of Jess Cassady--a strong female character with an equally strong and yummy husband. Too bad he's a cheater...or is he? You'll laugh and cry, and by the end of the story will wish you'd read everything else Joyce has written, so do yourself a favor and just buy all of her books...you know you'll end up doing it anyway! Bravo, Ms. Scarbrough!