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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Rather depressing, each of the stories about Hattie and her children. For me, the writing was not extraordinary.
I don't quite know what I was expecting when I first started reading this book but it simply failed to live up to my expectations. Hattie is a one dimensional, bitter, mean and cold-hearted woman who although has been cheated out of many of life's pleasures, it was difficult for me to feel much empathy for her. This fact just doesn't seem a valid reason to act the way she does with all of her children and the men in her life. Her character is just plain boring in the novel as well. I detested her and just stopped caring about the story altogether, halfway through. I have a copy to give away to anyone in Canada who wants to give this a try.
I heard about this book through Oprah's Super Soul Conversations podcast just a couple weeks ago and her conversation with the author was engaging and she praised her work. I immediately put the book on hold online at the library and had high hopes for it. I was underwhelmed when I started reading it. The storytelling seemed disjointed and the dialogues unrealistic because they made big leaps to conclusions. Sometimes I was wondering why I even needed to know certain things that the author told us; it didn't seem to add much to the characters' stories or development. I think the approach was interesting--telling us about a woman through her children's lives, actions, decisions, and thoughts. And it's true that such varying personalities could come from one family. But overall, it just kept feeling disjointed and I'd be like, "What? Really? I don't know about that."
The chapters about Ruthie, Ella, and Bell were the most interesting and telling to me.
"Hattie's house was only thirty minutes away but Alice never went there now. When she did see her parents and siblings, they had to come to her, dine at Alice's table and be served by her help. They were all coming for the party. They'd eye her lovely things, sit on her settees and sofas, and chat with her as though she had never been one of them. Bell would walk out of the powder room and make a joke about how she could sell the hand towels to pay the month's rent. Of course, the trouble was their jealousy. Though it was also true that, when assembled, the family put her in mind of a group of roaming, solitary creatures rounded up and caged together like captured leopards." pg. 139
"I got down on my knees. It wasn't an act to win her back; I would have laid on the ground in front of her if there had been room on the stoop. I told her I loved her and that I'd do better and all of the other things men say when they don't deserve forgiveness. I meant every word, but she shouldn't have taken me back. You can't let somebody like me off so easy. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's not like I don't know I'm doing wrong or like I'm powerless to stop myself. I just do what I'm going to do, despite what it'll cost me. After, I'm truly sorry. I regret almost everything I've ever done, but I don't suppose that makes any difference." pg. 171-172
"Hattie knew her children did not think her a kind woman--perhaps she wasn't, but there hadn't been time for sentiment when they were young. She had failed them in vital ways, but what good would it have done to spend the days hugging and kissing if there hadn't been anything to put in their bellies? They didn't understand that all the love she had was taken up with feeding them and chlothing them and preparing them to meet the world. The world would not love them; the world would not be kind." pg. 236
"And there had been so many babies: crying babies and walking babies, babies to be fed and babies to be changed. Sick babies, burning with fever babies. Hattie's first babies. They fell ill on January 12 and were dead ten days later. Penicillin. That was all that was needed to save her children. They would be fifty-six now, grayed or graying, thick at the waist and laugh lined around the mouth. Maybe they'd have grandchildren. The lives they would have had are unoccupied; that is to say, the people they would have loved, the houses they might have owned, jobs they would have had, were all left untenanted. Not a day went by that Hattie did not feel their absence in the world, the empty space where her children's lives should have been." pg. 237
Book: borrowed from SSF Main Library.
The chapters about Ruthie, Ella, and Bell were the most interesting and telling to me.
"Hattie's house was only thirty minutes away but Alice never went there now. When she did see her parents and siblings, they had to come to her, dine at Alice's table and be served by her help. They were all coming for the party. They'd eye her lovely things, sit on her settees and sofas, and chat with her as though she had never been one of them. Bell would walk out of the powder room and make a joke about how she could sell the hand towels to pay the month's rent. Of course, the trouble was their jealousy. Though it was also true that, when assembled, the family put her in mind of a group of roaming, solitary creatures rounded up and caged together like captured leopards." pg. 139
"I got down on my knees. It wasn't an act to win her back; I would have laid on the ground in front of her if there had been room on the stoop. I told her I loved her and that I'd do better and all of the other things men say when they don't deserve forgiveness. I meant every word, but she shouldn't have taken me back. You can't let somebody like me off so easy. I don't know what's wrong with me. It's not like I don't know I'm doing wrong or like I'm powerless to stop myself. I just do what I'm going to do, despite what it'll cost me. After, I'm truly sorry. I regret almost everything I've ever done, but I don't suppose that makes any difference." pg. 171-172
"Hattie knew her children did not think her a kind woman--perhaps she wasn't, but there hadn't been time for sentiment when they were young. She had failed them in vital ways, but what good would it have done to spend the days hugging and kissing if there hadn't been anything to put in their bellies? They didn't understand that all the love she had was taken up with feeding them and chlothing them and preparing them to meet the world. The world would not love them; the world would not be kind." pg. 236
"And there had been so many babies: crying babies and walking babies, babies to be fed and babies to be changed. Sick babies, burning with fever babies. Hattie's first babies. They fell ill on January 12 and were dead ten days later. Penicillin. That was all that was needed to save her children. They would be fifty-six now, grayed or graying, thick at the waist and laugh lined around the mouth. Maybe they'd have grandchildren. The lives they would have had are unoccupied; that is to say, the people they would have loved, the houses they might have owned, jobs they would have had, were all left untenanted. Not a day went by that Hattie did not feel their absence in the world, the empty space where her children's lives should have been." pg. 237
Book: borrowed from SSF Main Library.
And... Sometimes you wait 6 months at the library for a book and you hate it.
This reminded me a lot of Olive Kitteridge in that the stories are about folks all tied back to Hattie. The book covers the lives, in birth order, of Hattie's children, each at a different stage of their lives. Each story is heartbreaking but none so much as Hattie's, whose first experience at motherhood sets the tone for entire life as a mother. I debated giving it 3 or 4 stars. I suppose as I reflect on the story I would rate it higher than merely a "liked it." It makes a good book club book and comes with book clud suggested discussions. Oprah's notes were marked in the version I had and I found that a bit annoying, it didn't really lend much to the book.
The quality and storyline were wonderful, yet the format left me wanting at each chapter's end. This could be the mark of a good writer but I found it more irritating than artistic. The characters were strong overall...I just wanted more.
If I could give half stars, my true rating for this would be 3.5. I enjoyed this book - it was well written and the characters were interesting. However, I found it a bit depressing. I wish that each character's story could have ended on a slightly more positive note in order to give the feeling of hope!
I wanted to like this more than I did. Something just felt a little off, like it (the author? the narrative?) was trying too hard. I missed a sense of flow and direction, perhaps because each chapter was about a different child -- but that doesn't usually cause a problem. I enjoyed Olive Kitterage and it was, if anything, a more difficult read. This book had the benefit of family to tie the individual stories together and present differing POVs of Hattie. It is a powerful story and I think we will be seeing great new works from Mathis for a long time to come.
I was drawn in by the first chapter but disappointed by the rest. I wanted more of Hattie, not her dysfunctional children.