- A dated attempt with a solid underlying story; plods along too slowly, yet moves are made with too little development.
Within Reach
Delinsky’s Within Reach covers the relationship between a wife named Danica, her husband Blake, and a new friend named Michael. The story involves their treks back and forth from their vacation house to the city, and much of the time is spent explaining these trips with redundant dialogue that makes it difficult to stay focused or interested.
Danica’s relationship with Michael grows at a steady pace, but both of their behaviors are difficult to follow in a believable way, as their unforeseen romance seems to blossom suddenly at times, and retract at others. These swings have insufficient emotional weight or purpose, and feels under explained.
The overall plot, however, is an interesting one, and had the novel been cut down more dramatically and perhaps redirected effort towards exploring the relationship between Danica and Michael in a more realistic manner, it would have done the story justice. Overall, a light read that serves to entertain those that want to be immersed in a somewhat inconsistent story, but a story nonetheless.
Delinsky married Steve Delinsky, a law student, when she was very young. During the first years of her marriage, she worked for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. After the birth of her first child, she took a job as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald newspaper. She also filled her time doing volunteer work at hospitals, and serving on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and their Women's Cancer Advisory Board.
In 1980, after having twins, Delinsky read an article about three female writers, and decided to try putting her imagination on paper. After three months of researching, plotting, and writing, she sold her first book. Now, she only uses her married name Barbara Delinsky, and some of her novels published under the other pseudonyms, are being published under this name. Since then, over 30 million copies of her books are in print, and they have been published in 25 languages.
