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lonestarwords's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
4.0
Motherhood’s moment in literature continues. Soldier Sailor is another novel that illuminates the complex experience of becoming a mother and rearing young children. There are SO many quotes I wish I could share, but this arc asks that we not, so you’ll have to trust me - Kilroy digs deep and cuts to the heart.
•
I’ve loved the motherhood trend but I will say that not every book resonates - Soldier Sailor did. I watched an interview with Colm Toibin and he mentioned reading this book and realizing he’d never given much thought to the absolute inertia that embodies the experience of being alone with an infant. How do you successfully get to the grocery store? Take a shower? Deal with a toddler throwing a tantrum? It’s incredibly hard to bring these seemingly simple moments to life and impart the overwhelming stress and frustration that accompanies them. And then of course there is the exhaustion - Kilroy conveys the fatigue that defines young motherhood to a T through our narrator’s experience.
•
Told in first person, the young mother in this story recounts to her young son (Sailor) memories of their first years together. She verbalizes her dreams for him and what kind of man she hopes he will become - one not like his father. This is as much a story about marriage as motherhood and it illustrates how the birth of a child irrevocably changes a marriage, for good or for bad.
•
The last ten pages of this book had me fighting back tears, not only as I remembered my raw feelings as a young mom, but also now as I help care for my granddaughter. The emotions attached to caring for an infant are powerful and Kilroy did such a beautiful job of depicting an average day, and how there is nothing average about the dedication necessary to a tiny person.
•
Although I can’t share a quote word for word, there is a passage at the end of the book in which the narrator remembers her grandmother, in her dementia, calling out for her baby over and over again. The narrator tells us that she finally understood the magnitude of that connection. This one is a gut punch, but in all the right ways. Out June 4. Thank you @scribnerbooks for this early copy.
•
I’ve loved the motherhood trend but I will say that not every book resonates - Soldier Sailor did. I watched an interview with Colm Toibin and he mentioned reading this book and realizing he’d never given much thought to the absolute inertia that embodies the experience of being alone with an infant. How do you successfully get to the grocery store? Take a shower? Deal with a toddler throwing a tantrum? It’s incredibly hard to bring these seemingly simple moments to life and impart the overwhelming stress and frustration that accompanies them. And then of course there is the exhaustion - Kilroy conveys the fatigue that defines young motherhood to a T through our narrator’s experience.
•
Told in first person, the young mother in this story recounts to her young son (Sailor) memories of their first years together. She verbalizes her dreams for him and what kind of man she hopes he will become - one not like his father. This is as much a story about marriage as motherhood and it illustrates how the birth of a child irrevocably changes a marriage, for good or for bad.
•
The last ten pages of this book had me fighting back tears, not only as I remembered my raw feelings as a young mom, but also now as I help care for my granddaughter. The emotions attached to caring for an infant are powerful and Kilroy did such a beautiful job of depicting an average day, and how there is nothing average about the dedication necessary to a tiny person.
•
Although I can’t share a quote word for word, there is a passage at the end of the book in which the narrator remembers her grandmother, in her dementia, calling out for her baby over and over again. The narrator tells us that she finally understood the magnitude of that connection. This one is a gut punch, but in all the right ways. Out June 4. Thank you @scribnerbooks for this early copy.
karlijnmerle's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
feedon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
rmla's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
linebech's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
boshface's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
casskrug's review against another edition
5.0
many thanks to scribner and netgalley for allowing me to read this early! told from the perspective of a mother as a bedtime story for her son, soldier sailor is a visceral and propulsive deep dive into the horrors and joys of motherhood. our narrator, soldier, is feeling unmoored and unlike herself, receiving little to no support from her husband as he works longer and longer hours, leaving her to grapple with the early days of motherhood. very reminiscent of a quote from arlington park by rachel cusk when talking about those small acts in a relationship that lead to resentment - “they take a woman, and little by little they murder her.” there are some incredibly intense scenes in here - this one is right up there for me with liars by sarah manguso, in terms of how deeply i was feeling my reactions to this book. kilroy does not hold back with her honesty here, which could be uncomfortable for some but i adored how raw the emotions were. the love soldier has for her son is palpable even throughout the difficulties they face together, and those difficulties are rendered in a beautiful, almost stream of consciousness style. i don’t see this being for everyone but if you could handle splinters by leslie jamison, my work by olga ravn, and a life’s work by rachel cusk i think this is right in their ranks!
“What struck me as the starkest contradiction of all was that having navigated this much of life - the volatility of youth, of love and loss, the agony and the ecstasy - the closest I had come to losing my mind was during the period known as settling down.”
“What struck me as the starkest contradiction of all was that having navigated this much of life - the volatility of youth, of love and loss, the agony and the ecstasy - the closest I had come to losing my mind was during the period known as settling down.”
luufranz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
libraryofanisha's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5