
It was almost by happenstance that I read this book last
week.
We live in a townhouse, 1900 feet, downsized from our 3500
foot house across state. That means we
have boxes, tables, chairs, and lots of books in our garage. I was in the garage, just before an Earth Day
recycling event, trying to find any stray electronics when I stumbled upon this
crate of books that moved from house to house. My books are connections to me,
whether I read them or not, and are precious assets that I have a hard time
parting with. The Earth Day celebration
also included a book donation and as I was looking through the crate, I found
this book. I remember purchasing it two
years ago at the Greater St. Louis Book Fair, held annually at the end of April
in the Macy’s parking lot. I remember I
was drawn to the contemporary storyline and the hope that the tasteful cover
promised. I put it on my “to read” pile and a month later, picked it up when I
was between assignments.
I was not disappointed.
First person narration is one of my favorite
points-of-view. To me it feels like I am
having a conversation with the protagonist and am able to connect to their
story. This book gave me the unique gift
of hearing from three generations of women and finding connections in each of
their stories, understanding why each one behaved the way they did. It is also perhaps because my daughter is
fully into her tween years and in her
stretch for her personhood, sometimes pushes a few of her mama’s buttons. Mother-daughter stories continue to pull me,
perhaps because I lost my mother when I was only four and there is a part of me
that fantasizes about what the possibilities of that relationship.
The three women could have easily been friends or family
members, I recognized myself in the mother and heard my aunts in the the
grandmother. My daughter is not old
enough to be the daughter in the story, but I have sons who could be her
contemporaries. I applauded her bravery
to make a choice for true connection and not just for security, to buck
tradition and follow a path she created for herself. I also smiled at the affirming self-giving
the mother encountered and the full-circle life journey of the grandmother who
decided she could finally shed the cloak of the past to embrace the uniqueness
of her legacy.
My criticisms of the book center on three things, first, the
editing could have been a little tighter with some of the misplaced words and
spellings. Second, my head was spinning
with all the brand name references that it made me wonder if the author was
getting a kickback, and third, it seemed the story ended a bit too tidy in the
last few pages, the author bringing all the disparate stories together in a
neat little bow. It could be that she
was facing a deadline or that she had developed a triad as much as she could
without the danger of making this a trilogy.
I was satisfied with the week I spent with her and the characters will
stay with me because I relate to them, the contemporary setting, and the
understanding that this life journey has so many universal elements.
This was an excellent book and one that I would highly recommend for a quick summer read. I live in Kirkwood and have joined the summer reading program, it is one that I am recommending on that site as an easy breezy book that will truly satisfy.
This was an excellent book and one that I would highly recommend for a quick summer read. I live in Kirkwood and have joined the summer reading program, it is one that I am recommending on that site as an easy breezy book that will truly satisfy.
No comments:
Post a Comment