October is apparently Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I was unaware, but I'm glad I did read this book and the light it shines on issues of domestic violence. I think Anna Quindlen used a soft hand in presenting Fran Benedetto and the issue of domestic violence in that she never appears to judge Fran or her reasons for staying. She details Fran's decision to stay with her abusive husband in numerous ways letting the conclusions fall where they may. And it presents a pretty bleak picture of the options for women in that situation.When I was younger and thought myself much smarter, I would have been one to ask why a woman would stay with an abusive husband. Now that I'm older and have children of my own, I can see what would leave a woman feeling she had no options. And I appreciate Quindlen's slow evolution of those facts over the life of the novel.Once Fran and her son, Robert are safely aware from Bobby and living in Florida under assumed names, the narrative started to drag a little but there was always a sinister undercurrent of when would Bobby catch up with them, because I never had any doubt this would occur. But what made the novel fall a little flat for me was the ending and how it seemed to all happen due to some decisions made by Fran which she felt were empowering, but really led to placing herself and her son in danger. Would Bobby ever hurt Robert - no I don't think so. But would Bobby's influence over Robert be equally destructive? Yes.Additionally, I know I'm not supposed to feel sympathy for the abuser, and I do not, but he's painted as a clear psychopath in the book despite a supposed evolution into violence over time.A chilling read that really delves into the nuances of domestic violence and its aftermath, Black and Blue was a well written, if somewhat flat story.
3/5 Stars.
This book.
Cycles and cycles of cultural violence. Generational violence.
From Fareeda, to Isra, to Deya. What does it take to break a cycle? What does it mean to break a cycle?
And so many things are broken in this novel. Hearts and bodies and minds.
Etaf Rum absolutely slays in A Woman is No Man. She gives voice to the stifling and suffocating effect of generational and cultural expectations.
Told through varying points of view first from Isra, then her daughter Deya and finally from Deya's paternal grandmother Fareeda, we see how an original violence experienced by Fareeda, expelled from her home and homeland in Palestine, learns to live under the harshest of conditions. Tragedy leads her to dig into the cultural belief that daughters are a burden and sons are to be celebrated.
In devaluing the worth of daughters and women, Fareeda sets the conditions for her son Adam to be brutally cruel to his new wife, Isra. When Isra and Adam are dead, Deya must grow up under Fareeda's rule, constantly being reminded that as a girl, she has little worth.
This book is about Deya finding her voice and reclaiming her worth. The cost is heavy to break the cycle of violence in her family. But if not Deya, then who? Deya's struggle comes from someone within the culture (not from a whiteness-centered point of view), straining against the restraints of expectation. Underneath is an abiding love which causes her to consider all the ramifications of seeking her own path.
A Woman is No Man leaves a lot of questions unanswered - gives characters grace they may not deserve, but is up to the reader to decide to what extent it is given. It is perfectly drawn and perfectly imprecise. A real heartbreaker of a book.
4/5 Stars.
I picked this Kindle version up when I saw something with Wally Lamb's name on it was only $1.99. I've loved Wally Lamb ever since reading I Know This Much is True in college. Given my surprise when I began reading and discovered it was not a book written by him, but a collection of stories from women incarcerated in York Prison in Connecticut, I was pleased to find I actually enjoyed much of the content of this collection. Lamb gives an excellent introduction for I'll Fly Away, delving into why the writing workshops performed in the prison were important and ultimately successful for many of the inmates. It was sad, but not ultimately surprising, to learn that the State of Connecticut sought to recoup money from the women who had made modest profits from having their work published. While the stories are deeply personal tales from the women themselves, all non-fiction reflections of their lives in and out of prison, the whole collection invokes broader themes of domestic abuse and violence, and the punitive v. rehabilitative aims of mass incarceration in America. Do we want those convicted to be punished for their crime, or do we as a society, benefit more from individuals being rehabilitated and unlikely to offend again? (Did I tip my hand with the way I asked that question?). There is something grossly dehumanizing about numbering and locking people away that I think does damage to both captive and jailer. That's not to say that some people are too violent and damaged in a way that means they should not ever be allowed in society again, but the way in which we house and incarcerate large swaths of our population should be examined. Hearing first hand accounts from these women help to keep them from being mere names and numbers in a sea of inmates, and hopefully helps show their human sides, our shared humanity after all, is a great equalizer.
3/5 Stars.
There are very few book that get put on my DNF pile. But if it hadn't been for a work road trip and hours of windshield time, The Last Mrs. Parrish would have found itself discarded on the pile.
Let's begin at the beginning and then we'll get into spoiler territory.
TLMP starts in the mind of Amber Patterson, a woman with a clear agenda to get close to Daphne Parrish, a wealthy socialite in the town of Bishops Harbor, CT. Amber ingratiates herself to Daphne by pretending to have a sister who died of the same terrible disease as Daphne's character. And so the first 60% of the book is Amber moving closer and closer into Daphne's circle, somehow fooling everyone as to who she is and what her motives are. But as the reader, we know that Amber is a con artist intent on only one thing - getting Mr. Parrish in bed and becoming his wife.
So now just hold up here because this is part of the most irritating part of the book. Amber is deceptive and wiley, but she's not entirely all that smart or brilliant. Her plan does seem to be working because Daphne seems especially vulnerable to taking this dull homely girl under her wing. And that's all fine, but the premise that all that would be enough to turn the head of her supposedly faithful and adoring husband was just all a little too much to swallow. It was all a little too perfect a narrative. And the steps that were taken to get to those points were just a little too far outside of plausible.
And so after listening for about 8 hours of story, I was ready to bag Amber and TLMP. And so of course this is where the story turned. And Daphne becomes the narrator. Telling us all about the terrible marriage she has to Mr. Jackson Parrish. You see, he's a sadistic sociopath who is horrible to his wife and children. Through mental and physical abuse, he controls Daphne - who she talks to, where she goes. He threatens her through her children. He even had her committed to a mental institution after the birth of their first daughter so she would know just what the consequences would be if she ever tried to expose him or leave him. Apparently the only thing Daphne couldn't give him was a son. So when the Daphne section started with their meeting and dating I thought, oh no I don't have the stomach for ten years of marriage about this.
And thankfully the authors seemed to be aware. But then it became apparent that Daphne started orchestrating Amber's affair with Jackson and oh, the revenge, I was so here for it because I hated Amber so much. But in the end, I'm a little deflated that the "revenge" I was so hyped for ended up being the domestic abuse and serial rape of Amber by the husband she was so keen for. Not to mention their poor child who has two morally depraved parents. I was kind of thinking it would end in a murder/suicide in which Daphne, as the closest relative would get custody of Amber's son and then everyone innocent will be saved, but no. Or that Amber and Daphne would team up against Jackson, but also no. And the revenge kept coming. In spiral after spiral of take-down by Daphne. It ended up being a little too wrapped up, a little too perfect
So this was a big miss for me. The revenge portion left me feeling icky and the entirely too long front portion of the book wasn't worth the pay off.
2/5 Stars.
Well this was a fast and funny read. I wish the audio version of The Last Black Unicorn had been available first because listening to this book in Tiffany Haddish's unique delivery would have been even funnier. I may even listen to it when it finally comes through the waitlist from the library. I was first made aware of Tiffany Haddish through a friend who had seen her on SNL and suggested we have a girls evening of watching Girls Trip. This was a great idea as the movie was hilariously raunchy and Tiffany Haddish did really steal the show. Tiffany and I are around the same age, but the similarities pretty much stop there. She grew up in terrible circumstances, abandoned at 3 by her father, raised by a constantly fighting mother and step father among half-siblings who were favored by the adults. Then her stepfather attempted to murder her mother (maybe) and all the kids by cutting the brake lines to the car. Instead of dying, her mother was terribly injured and schizophrenia was triggered. She was then put into foster care where she lived in multiple group homes and suffered terrible beatings until she was eventually placed with her grandmother.After reaching the age of 18 and graduating high school, her grandmother put her out of the house on her own. Tiffany lived out of her car while pursuing a comedy career. She then married an abusive husband and left and remarried and left him again. There are some bright spots in all this but the mere fact that Tiffany can still find humor and light in the world is the brightest of spots. She's great. And hilarious. The book isn't the most polished, but neither is Tiffany, and that feels right.
4/5 Stars.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I've had some pleasant surprises from NetGalley recently so I probably had higher expectations going into reading this that never fully coalesced into a feeling of satisfaction. The story begins with Aaron Englund packing up his stuff and leaving his partner of 20 years, Walter at their home in Albuquerque. It's really unclear what led to this ultimate split, but it appears that Aaron has more or less fallen out of love with Walter and is ready to change his life. So he heads to San Francisco to begin anew.Upon arrival he rents a horrible studio apartment from a feuding married couple, and begins work as an ESL teacher in a poorly run school. And then Aaron struggles. Part of this is likely based on his background. His father was abusive but died before a cathartic parting would give him mother any satisfaction or confidence. So his mother moves them to a small town, proclaiming it is NOT the kind of place to start over. With that omen hanging over their story, they barely get by together until Aaron turns 15 and his mother leaves. In swoops Walter and the rest is really, well kind of boring (I read another review that used the word tedious - which is probably more on point).
Aaron is a collector of stories and the vignettes he relays regarding other people are pretty fascinating. But Aaron, who is our eye piece in the story, tries to use these outside stories to define himself. It's a technique that feels almost, but not quite successful. The narrative is harmed by a dizzying skip through time and place which is distracting when it's not down-right confusing. I wouldn't say I liked this book in total, although some parts were bright spots. I also wouldn't say I disliked it.
3/5 Stars.
How did I get here?
This
is what I was thinking last night when I looked at the clock and
realized it was 1145 and I only had 7% left of the book to go. But,
actually I knew exactly how I got to that point.
Big Little Lies
is essentially a story about three friends, beautiful Celeste, volatile
Madeline, and fragile Jane. When Jane moves to the beach side town of
Piriwee, she meets Madeline. Jane is a young, single mother whose son,
Ziggy, will be starting kindergarten. Madeline also has a daughter
starting kindergarten. Celeste is a friend of Madeline's who has twin
boys starting kindergarten. So all these mothers and their children
happen to meet at the kindergarten orientation day.
Madeline,
who loves a good fight, takes hapless Jane under her wing. The way
Moriarty sets up the narration gives us a twist however. The very first
chapter starts six months after the orientation. At "Trivia Night" a
fundraiser held by the school. We learn early in the first couple of
chapters that someone is killed during trivia night.
So when the
book introduces us to Madeline, Celeste and Jane, we think... hmmm...
maybe one of them. And I was curious, for a few chapters I thought, who
is is going to be... who dies. But then this funny thing happened. I
started to really really like and identify with Madeline, Celeste and
Jane, and I didn't want ANY of them to die. And then I was worried about
them. (I think reading George R.R. Martin has ruined me on the
survivability of favorite characters). I was worried about their
families.
Moriarty sets us up to think these three women are
just a bunch of stereotypes packaged into three frames. And it's easy to
get pulled along with that until different details of their past and
present conflicts are teased out into the open. Interestingly a lot of
the background characters who appear in "interviews" with police
interspersed throughout the chapters remain as stereotypes and it's an
interesting look at how we really have no idea what is going on with
other people.
So around 54% and 9 p.m. when I thought maybe I
should be tucking in for the night, it started to become possible that
Celeste was going to be the one who was killed. And I really really
didn't want it to be her. So I kept reading until I could be certain it
wasn't her, and then, well I only had 12% left, and then 7% and who
really puts down a book when you are that close?
So I ended up reading for four hours straight yesterday which is basically unheard of but it was also pretty magical.
The
book does a really really good job with the three main characters and
sensitively dealing with issues of domestic violence. I hate to admit
that it actually forced me to really examine why some people don't leave
abusive relationships for the first time in a new way. It was clear Moriarty did her homework on that
one and it's with a sense of relief, because who wants to read that when
it's done poorly.
4/5 Stars.
