Emma L.R. Hogg

Thanks for the love UofG: ALUMNA’S NEW NOVEL GETTING BUZZ https://porticomagazine.ca//alumnas-new-novel-getting-buzz/

Picket Fences BOOK REVIEW in Algoma University's The Sentient https://www.sentientalgomau.com//book-review-local-author-

Signed/personalized copies available by request - send me a message! Picket Fences is also available to order from your local bookstore or online from Chapters Indigo and Amazon.

From the Northern Ontario Virtual Author panel, recorded September 2020.

Picket Fences BOOK REVIEW by Hailey Hayes (@hkh_reads bookstagram account) Picket Fences by Emma L.R. Hogg /5 Canadian author, Emma L.R. Hogg, is a skilled storyteller and writer. Her latest novel, Picket Fences, touches on complicated relationships of the romantic, friend, and familial variety, offering a look at the everyday trials and changes that often occur as we get older. High-school friendships, work relationships, complicated lovers, the difficulties of m...arriage, and the different ways of dealing with grief. Hogg covers all of these topics and more and connects with areas that are a part of the human experience for so many. The characters in this text felt real. Throughout the book their development was layered and nuanced; they represented people whose lives aren’t perfect but who still live in a world that often presents perfect expectations. The main character, Sloane, is working as a secretary and assistant when we meet her but has always wanted to have a career in graphic design. Her husband, Jason, has always wanted to be a video game developer. Both Sloane and Jason are not where they planned to be career-wise, which is made even more challenging because they aren’t where they expected to be family-wise. Readers get glimpses of Sloane’s life in High School and during her undergrad, which is where readers are introduced to her best friend Stephie and the traumatic event that leaves a lasting impact on her life. We are left to ask how well we know the people we are closest to in our lives? Do we see them as they are, or as the projections and reflections of pieces of ourselves, of who we want them to be? As Sloane eventually realizes, I’ve been focusing on all the wrong things. On all the wrong people. All of the different threads and themes were brought together by the end of the novel, and point towards a hopeful future. I really recommend this read!