Under an Indiana Sky by Lynne Hugo ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

We all know someone whose life has been touched.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site.  A free book was provided for an honest review.

Octobr 2026;  Blank Slate Press; 978-1966103066
audio, ebook, print (250 pages); family fiction

Under an Indiana Sky is a book about addiction, and we all know someone whose life has been affected by a family member or friend with addiction.  The characters are all well written and real.  I agonized over the two people who became addicts and saw how quickly and easily they fell into addiction.  I also agonized over the family members who went through normal feelings of co-dependency as they watched their loved ones on a downward spiral into their addictions.  

Denise and Angie are sisters.  Their mom is disabled, and Angie lives with her to take care of her.  Denise also helps, but she is in a relationship and has two children.  Both sisters think that the other one could do more to help their mom, and Denise feels like she has to watch over Angie to keep her on the right path.  She is suspicious of Angie’s new boyfriend, Brock.  He drives a nice car and doesn’t seem to have a job, and Denise assumes that he is probably a drug dealer.  When Angie gets hurt, her doctor prescribes pain pills that make her feel a lot better.  Soon she is trying to get more pills as she becomes dependent.  When Brock gets hurt, she starts sharing her pain pills with him, and even though they both believe that they can stop any time they want to, the pills quickly become the most important part of their lives and their relationship with each other.  One of them will die. And then another.

There’s a lot of collateral damage from the people who knew and loved Angie and Brock – friends and family who can’t believe what happened to them and question what they could have done.  Denise, her mom, her daughter, Brock’s mom, and Mercedes, a friend of Brock’s, are all left behind with their grief and their guilt.

This isn’t just a fiction story – it’s a mirror of what is happening in our society right now as families lose their loved ones to addictions.

I have read all of Lynne Hugo’s books, and she just keeps getting better.  One way that I know a book was special is how long I continue thinking about the characters after I finish the book.  I read this book months ago, and the characters are still in my mind.  I would absolutely give this book 100 stars if it was possible – it’s that good.

Buy Under an Indiana Sky at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.

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