Stealing Heaven, by Elizabeth Scott
Scott, Elizabeth (2009). Stealing Heaven. NY: HarperCollins. 336 pages.
So, I don’t know what’s up with all these Elizabeth Scott books coming out lately, but Stealing Heaven is one I’ve just finished. For what it’s worth, I got this one at the library–it didn’t come in the mail like so many of the others.
This is the fourth book of Scott’s I’ve read and I still can’t really make heads or tales of what would otherwise emerge as the author’s characteristic style or literary concern. As far as subject and tone, Scott is all over the place with each novel. So far–with the exception of Something, Maybe–I haven’t been entirely displeased with the variety.
Though it comes in second place to Living Dead Girl, Stealing Heaven does have a pretty attention-grabbing premise. Eighteen-year-old Dani and her mother are professional burglars and make their living traveling from wealthy burg to wealthy suburb, stealing and fencing silver. Dani has known no other way of life and, until the pair arrive in the beach community of Heaven, has no desire to explore any other way. Once in Heaven, however, Dani finds herself forging reluctant friendships, first with a chatty rich girl and then with a friendly but cheeky young local cop. Of course, it turns out that it’s the chatty rich girl’s family’s collection of silver that Dani’s mother is after.
As Dani’s friendship with the cop grows deeper (or, as the cop tries to effect a deeper friendship with Dani), she begins to consider how her life and identity have been compromised by her mother’s insistence on the life of crime. Then two major things happen that shake Dani up and force her to become the master of her own destiny: first, Dani and her mom get caught with stolen goods (and are held at the cop-boyfriend’s police station, which is totally embarrassing) and second, Dani’s mother becomes very ill. I won’t tell you what happens after all this, but, if not surprising, the novel’s conclusion is effective and satisfying.
This YA novel probably fits best within the (limited) tradition of books like Kim Ablon Whitney’s 2004 See You Down the Road, but is distinguished by its older narrator and its writing which seems pitched to a slightly older audience. There were a couple of cheesy points where I thought Scott pushed the “master of your own destiny” theme a little too hard, but, if I ignore those I find myself quite liking this different little book. If I were going to go all Literary on your ass, I might wonder at the metaphor suggested by this novel that posits that for many, family and familial expectations weigh as heavily as a criminal record. Heavy stuff.