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karenleagermain's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Karin Anderson's novel, What Falls Away, came to me as part of a group of novels that I'm reviewing for a literary contest. I was unprepared by how much her story would speak to me.
The book follows Cassandra, who has returned to her Utah community to caregiver for her mother who is suffering from dementia. Decades earlier, Cassandra left her hometown to pursue an artistic life and one that is far removed from her conservative Mormon roots. Additionally, she found herself an outcast when becoming pregnant as a teen. Her family arranged to have her sent away for the birth and have the baby immediately adopted, as a means to keep Cassandra's secret from ruining her reputation ( and theirs).
Although semi-estranged from her family, Cassandra is drawn back home after a manipulative letter from her brother makes her feel obligated to care for her mother. Returning home means not only facing family trauma, but also returning to a community in which she feels like she's an outcast, including realizing that the father of her child is now a church leader.
I sat down to read What Falls Away and pretty much read it straight through. I can't remember the last time that I read a piece of fiction that informed key moments of my own life. The aspect that I related to the most was being a caregiver for a family member who is part of the LDS faith, being outside of that faith myself. The intrusions from "helpful" church members and the difficulties of knowing who to trust. I've always struggled to understand actions of church members from when my grandparents need care (twenty-five years ago) and I felt like Anderson's story, although fiction, was helping me understand that part of my life.
Reading What Falls Away was an incredibly emotional and powerful experience for me.
The book follows Cassandra, who has returned to her Utah community to caregiver for her mother who is suffering from dementia. Decades earlier, Cassandra left her hometown to pursue an artistic life and one that is far removed from her conservative Mormon roots. Additionally, she found herself an outcast when becoming pregnant as a teen. Her family arranged to have her sent away for the birth and have the baby immediately adopted, as a means to keep Cassandra's secret from ruining her reputation ( and theirs).
Although semi-estranged from her family, Cassandra is drawn back home after a manipulative letter from her brother makes her feel obligated to care for her mother. Returning home means not only facing family trauma, but also returning to a community in which she feels like she's an outcast, including realizing that the father of her child is now a church leader.
I sat down to read What Falls Away and pretty much read it straight through. I can't remember the last time that I read a piece of fiction that informed key moments of my own life. The aspect that I related to the most was being a caregiver for a family member who is part of the LDS faith, being outside of that faith myself. The intrusions from "helpful" church members and the difficulties of knowing who to trust. I've always struggled to understand actions of church members from when my grandparents need care (twenty-five years ago) and I felt like Anderson's story, although fiction, was helping me understand that part of my life.
Reading What Falls Away was an incredibly emotional and powerful experience for me.
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