New Book Alert: The Lady on the Billboard by Stefanie Hutcheson; Soap Like Contemporary Fiction Connects Various Characters
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Stefanie Hutcheson knows how to write about relationships with humor and sadness. In her The Adventures of George and Mabel: Based on an Almost (Kind of? Sort of? Could be?) True Story trilogy, a happily married couple share a history of road trips and inside jokes only to reveal in the final book that there is a deep searing grief that is buried underneath their happiness. Her novella, Left, is about a couple dealing with the decline of their marriage after the wife abandons her husband at a convenience store. In these works, Hutcheson had a firm grip on characterization as she takes little incidents and nuances in the characters’ lives to provide commentary on them.
Her latest book, a KindleVella called The Lady on the Billboard, takes her talents of writing characterization and humor, capturing little moments, and discovering emotional truth to new heights. She doesn’t just capture one couple and their intimate circle of friends and family. Instead she uses those gifts to capture a whole town in what is her most ambitious and probably best work yet.
The conflicts begin when Dr. Elizabeth Perkins, high school principal, gets her face posted on a billboard celebrating her achievement as “Administrator of the Year.” She is flattered but embarrassed, but that’s not all. The billboard becomes a catalyst for the large cast to open their secrets whether they are affairs, familial ties, or obsessions. Many of them involve Elizabeth and poke some holes into her reputation as a prime educator, happily married wife and mother, and proper pillar of the community.
The Kindle version of this book is available on KindleVella which means the Reader can read a chapter at a time as they are released instead of at once which actually fits the style of the book. The many characters’ relationships and various subplots seem almost reminiscent of a soap opera or episodes of a long running sitcom so the book’s format is perfect to lend itself to serialization. Sometimes the chapters get repetitive like an episode that is created to catch the audience up to speed on the various situations. The serialization format also allows the individual characters to gain focus and get their point of view across in what would be a large convoluted story otherwise.
However, Vella has a points system in which the Reader has to pay money for a certain amount of points to read the chapters. It is very irritating especially if one doesn’t have a lot of money on hand and already has a Kindle Unlimited account. I suggest caution for Readers who have never tried Kindle Vella to be wary of the extra cost.
Okay now the story. This is going to be fun to summarize but here goes (deep breath):
Elizabeth is unhappily married to Jason, an attorney and is the mother of twin girls, Laney and Lucy. She tries to put on a facade of a happy family but can barely stand her condescending husband. She worked hard to get to her position as principal but sometimes doubts herself and whether she is making any meaningful connections with her students or their parents. She also has nightmares of a past that she barely remembers but her memories are faint and troubling.
Her husband Jason is having an affair with Rebekah, his administrative assistant, who has enough brain to run the firm herself. Elizabeth’s old high school boyfriend, Josh, is still around reliving his glory days before an injury ended his dreams of a football scholarship and his romance with the girl he once called “Liza Jane” after the Vince Gill country song. He still reminisces about Elizabeth, the one who got away and what might have been.
Elizabeth has some other men who also fantasize about her. Brad, a college professor, hosts open poetry slams at the local coffee shop and visualizes the principal as some muse or poetic inspiration. Derrick, a barista at the coffee shop, also fancies her but his interest in Elizabeth is more of the sexual and lustful variety.
Elizabeth has some close female friends as well. Madison, a bubbly teacher, has an active love life and is more outgoing than her serious friend. However, she is suspicious of Elizabeth’s friendship with Brandi, another teacher, who has a very violent past.
Henry, a high school senior and football star, has some unanswered questions about his past and he is unaware that the answers are all around him. Annie, a newcomer in town, is fleeing an abusive marriage with her young son. She discovers a link to her past as does a private investigator, Abby Stevenson, who has been searching for family members for years.
Got all that? Good, I hope so.
Like I said the plot or rather subplots are numerous. Sometimes, it’s very hard to keep track. Luckily, Hutcheson has a good handle on her wide cast of characters. Sometimes they resort to archetypes (the fighting married couple, the dogged suitor, the teen with big dreams, the dedicated detective with the important information and so on), but in this type of work, that can sometimes be expected.
What makes them stand out are the little subtle nuances and touches. Things such as Madison's nickname for Elizabeth, "Bitsy," Josh's love of '90's Country music, and Brad's constant repetition of definitions of words make these characters fully recognized. Just like she did with George and Mabel, Hutcheson gives characters details and idiosyncrasies to make them stand out.
Those idiosyncrasies provide much of the book's humor partly because we know these characters. We understand them. They could be reminiscent of a friend, teacher, family member, or ourselves. It's a gentle humor that comes from personality and identification rather than topical jokes and snarky one liners.
There is also some drama with the character's situations. This book has a definite edge which is present throughout. Subjects like teen pregnancy, adoption, identity, parental abandonment, death, mental health, addiction, and various others come forward. Because the characters are so relatable, the darker aspects are more emotional and moving. You don't want to see them suffer because you don't want to see a close friend suffer. These troubled times could strengthen or weaken the characters.
Of course, the nucleus and center of this entire book is Dr. Elizabeth Perkins. It is highly significant that these complications begin when her billboard appears. It reflects her image, the figure that she tries to convey. It's all surface. Administrator of the Year. Principal. Wife. Mother. Community Leader. She spends so much time maintaining this surface image that it is exhausting.
Throughout the book, she is faced with different complications and revelations that create cracks in this facade. Elizabeth questions her identity, where she came from, what pushed her forward, what truths she has to confront, and what she really wants and needs.
Ultimately, Lady on the Billboard is a humorous and moving character study about a woman confronting her image, her place in the world, and her own self identity and worth.
