A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvvette Edwards

Jinx is a woman in crisis, though she doesn't know it.

A child of an older father, who died before his daughter really got to know him, and a loving (if needy) mother, Jinx had a child hood of loneliness and loss. Her single school friend is more of a 'frenemie'. Jinx is a young woman who is at loose ends and unsure of her place in her world. At sixteen, her loss becomes complete when her mother is murdered after a short, mostly unhappy relationship.  Jinx decides from then on that she can depend on no one but herself, and her relationships with her estranged husband and four year old son are collateral damage. Fourteen years later, her mother's friend, Lemon, returns to Jinx' London home, determined to make things right with the young girl he felt he'd wronged. In the course of one weekend, Lemon and Jinx exchange stories of their pasts, trying to put to rest the ghost of Jinx's mother and to determine how much each is culpable in her death.

I had a hard time getting into this book, frankly. Jinx is initially a very unsympathetic character, self centered and bordering on cruel to her young son (Ben). I have a son of a similar age, and my heart just hurt for him when she cuts him off and ignores his young need for attention. However, things became clearer and clearer as the story went on. Seeing Jinx' relationships with her mother and her only friend torn apart, both by a spectacularly bad choices in boyfriends, it became easier to see how Jinx came to guard her heart so closely. Lemon, too, develops beautifully as a character as his story unfolds, from his childhood friendship with Jinx' mother's murderer, his own marriage and fatherhood, and his relationship with Jinx's mother, culminating with her final night alive.

Characterization, in fact, is a huge strength of Edwards' writing. All of the characters, even those that play smaller roles (such as Jinx's estranged husband, Red) are clearly drawn and full-fleshed.  I found myself wanting to know about Red, about their brief marriage, and how he made the decision to leave. I had similar interest in her only briefly seen father, and her friend. Unfortunately, those stories are a outside the scope of this story, and I respect Edwards for keeping her eyes on the prize, never deviating in her slow peeling back of the layers of the fortress around Jinx' heart.

I truly liked this book, when all was said and done. The writing was sharp and clean, the characterizations on point, and the language spot on. I give this four cups out of five, and I'd dearly love to read whatever Edwards next writes.