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In Small Measures

Lynne Burke
Outskirts Press (2010)
ISBN 9781432761899
Reviewed by Tia Bach for RebeccasReads (05/11)

“In Small Measures” is a story about Kristen Todd Harrison, the heiress to the largest fortune in Australia. Her charmed and predetermined life is destroyed when Kristen falls in love with what society deems the wrong man. Her twelve-day love affair, and ultimately best part of her life, produces a beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, Kristen’s parents reject the biracial baby and bow out of both of their lives. This rejection and the death of the man she truly loved catapults Kristen into the unknown world of taking care of herself, with no servants or other help. To make matters worse, she faces the racism of raising a biracial child in the 1960s.

Throughout the novel, several characters take pity on Kristen and her daughter, Martina. First, Kristen’s former caretaker steps in to help only to die with health problems. From there, Kristen falls victim to a scheming man hoping to take advantage of her former status and make some money. When he realizes she is cut off, he brutally beats her and disappears. Fearing he will come back, Kristen flees to the Queensland Outback to raise her daughter.

During her stay in the Outback, Kristen and Martina find family and a place they truly belong. A chance meeting with her former husband and his subsequent murder send Kristen into a tailspin. Dangerous men think Kristen is in possession of some very valuable diamonds and threaten her daughter’s life as well as her own. Kristen stays on the run and loses herself in alcohol, pain and despair. Despite all of this, “Tina” grows up to be a very well-adjusted and confident young woman. Unfortunately, Kristen’s decline worsens with each turn of the page until the inevitable sad ending.

Several of the supporting characters that helped Kristen along the way were lovely and engaging. This made it all the more frustrating that Kristen could never pull it together even for the daughter who meant the world to her. At times she was the self-sacrificing and adoring mother and then she would be the drunk who overlooked every helpful hand reaching out toward her. I was so angry with the character by the end, I didn’t care at all what happened to her. I wanted her daughter to find refuge away from her, which she ultimately did.

The story suffers at times from poor pacing, confusing timelines, and spots of poor editing.  Still, I respect what the author was trying to do. Kristen was a badly damaged woman who was never taught toughness and fortitude. Much of the book, I was sucked into the story and its constant twists and turns. But, in the end, my disappointment in the main character was all that remained.

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