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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
I had a really hard time getting through this book - almost stopped several times. There were too many threads that didn’t seem to go anywhere or contribute to the overall story leading me to ask, what was that all about? Great narration is probably what kept me going to the end.
I didn’t like the characters. I kept reading in hopes that I would like them more, but they were not appealing. There are some excellent descriptions of aspects of Syracuse and its history, but I was hopeful that the characters would also be interesting.
Sam is a middle-aged, comfortably-off woman living in a suburb of Syracuse, New York. She has a job, but the hours and pay mean it's almost volunteer work, giving tours of the house of a local suffragette. Her daughter is in the middle of college applications and extracurricular involvement in an entrepreneurial student group and her husband loves her but doesn't really pay attention to her when she's talking. Then she tours an open house for a run down arts and crafts home in a blighted neighborhood and falls in love. As she puts down earnest money, she realizes that she's leaving her husband for a house.
As someone who has, upon occasion, browsed Zillow for run-down Victorian houses and craftsman bungalows, I was all in with the opening chapter. And I've loved a previous book of Dana Spiotta's, the wonderful Innocents and Others. Spiotta writes complex, problematic women so well. But as this book went on, I liked it less. Partly, it's the setting - the US in the aftermath of Trump's election, and partly it's how Sam isn't ever portrayed as complex so much as she is just annoying and self-involved. This isn't a bad book, so much as it is ham-fisted. Maybe I need more time before I'm ready for a novel about the Trump years and maybe this just isn't Spiotta's best.
As someone who has, upon occasion, browsed Zillow for run-down Victorian houses and craftsman bungalows, I was all in with the opening chapter. And I've loved a previous book of Dana Spiotta's, the wonderful Innocents and Others. Spiotta writes complex, problematic women so well. But as this book went on, I liked it less. Partly, it's the setting - the US in the aftermath of Trump's election, and partly it's how Sam isn't ever portrayed as complex so much as she is just annoying and self-involved. This isn't a bad book, so much as it is ham-fisted. Maybe I need more time before I'm ready for a novel about the Trump years and maybe this just isn't Spiotta's best.
It took me 6 days of slogging through to decide to stop reading this book. Boring characters, boring story and boring writing.
3.5 stars. This really came together beautifully in the end! It’s an at-times painful reflection of middle-aging and the lopsided bond between mother and daughter, told in the context of the 2016 election, racial injustice, and weird internet culture (really!).
When I write, I often have a file of miscellaneous items that don’t quite fit. I try to find places for these nuggets, but many stay there. Wayward felt like that whole file got jammed in at the end. I liked the first half, but it lost its way.
3.5, but rounding down. There were things about this that I really loved, but there were long stretches that just did not add to the story at all, and really interrupted the flow of the narrative.
Almost 5 stars. Lovely writing, especially dialogue between mothers and daughters. Very original and of its place in a changing Syracuse post 2016 election.
I picked this book up on a whim and was repeatedly surprised by how relatable I found many (but not all) the thoughts and experiences of the main character. Its set in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and examines the life of a middle aged, progressive, married, white woman who is navigating her changing body, purpose in life, and poignant current events. The ending felt satisfying and authentic.
This book didn’t really establish a plot, and had a lot of rambling offshoots. I didn’t really find the protagonist motivating as a character. Though I think it’s interesting to hear the perspective of a middle aged woman going through a separation and menopause it did feel like the author was checking boxes to make her character identify with people outside of her own experience. It still came across as a privileged white person who never really identified with anyone in her life beyond a superficial surface level.