Trailer Park Tuesday: The Sunshine When She's Gone by Thea Goodman

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.  Unless their last name is Grisham or King, authors will probably never see their trailers on the big screen at the local cineplex.  And that's a shame because a lot of hard work goes into producing these short marriages between book and video.  So, if you like what you see, please spread the word and help these videos go viral.

Anyone who has survived the boot camp of parenting--i.e., the six weeks immediately after the Blessed Event of Birth when sleep deprivation, confusion, and midnight joltings-awake with a little dictator screaming in your ear--will have an visceral, PTSD reaction to the trailer for Thea Goodman's debut novel The Sunshine When She's Gone.  The video has two competing soundtracks: a squalling baby's insistent cry and a bright, jangly ragtime tune.  If this doesn't make you break out in diaper rash, then you obviously had a much easier, quieter, sleep-filled experience than 99.9 percent of the rest of us parents.  We hate you.  But from the looks of it, most of us will love Goodman's novel which tells the story of John and Veronica Reed, fragile new parents on the edge.  One morning, Veronica wakes up with a strange feeling.  That's because she's just had a good night's sleep.  And that's because her husband and baby are gone--fled to the Carribean for some R&R (though how John thinks he's going to get any rest or relaxation is beyond me).  Parental abduction seems like it would make for some rather dark material, but critics have praised the novel for its wry satire of modern marriage, as well as calling it a suspenseful page-turner.  Nell Freudenberger, author of The Newlyweds, said: "Thea Goodman has made something I would've thought impossible: an edge-of-your-seat narrative about parenting a small child. Her emotional investment in her characters is complete as they confront each other, themselves, and the heavy weight of new love."  Look for The Sunshine When She's Gone in bookstores now.  Baby wipes and burp cloths not included.