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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
Dreadful, full of proselytizing and performance allyship, the main character was not at all believable. would not have finished except it was for a book club who I really enjoy meeting with
between 4 or 4 1/2 stars
I really enjoyed this book. The main character Sam was very similar to me in many ways. The things she worries about are what a lot of women of a "certain age" contemplate as we reach certain milestones in our lives and realize we have accomplished most of what makes for a full life... now what? How do we look to the future when the future now does not hold anything "good". How can we create a life that is fullfilling to ourselves if we don't exactly identify with our careers? What makes for a good marriage? How can we change some of the injustices we are witness to without becoming sanctimonious? How do we learn to listen and let go?
Good stuff, even if there are no real answers, lol.
I really enjoyed this book. The main character Sam was very similar to me in many ways. The things she worries about are what a lot of women of a "certain age" contemplate as we reach certain milestones in our lives and realize we have accomplished most of what makes for a full life... now what? How do we look to the future when the future now does not hold anything "good". How can we create a life that is fullfilling to ourselves if we don't exactly identify with our careers? What makes for a good marriage? How can we change some of the injustices we are witness to without becoming sanctimonious? How do we learn to listen and let go?
Good stuff, even if there are no real answers, lol.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really liked the writing; only real beef was that I wish the ending had been given more room to breathe.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I do not know what it is like to be a middle aged white woman, and this book gave me an interesting insight into it. After first reading it, I liked the book, but reading other reviews on this site, both negative and positive, I can't find any fault in them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia
As a married forty-something who periodically fantasizes about running away from home, I was excited to read Wayward. Unfortunately, it was neither an enjoyable read nor a novel that offered much insight into lives of middle-aged women.
On impulse, Sam (53), buys a fixer upper in a questionable neighborhood in Syracuse NY and moves in, leaving her husband, teenage daughter, and life in the suburbs. Having read the book, it's still not clear to me, or, after 270 pages of ruminating, to Sam, why she made this change. Her character never rang true to me. All of her justifications and miseries felt contrived and surface. The book never delved deeply enough into the reasons a woman might want to make such a startling change. Because Sam as a character didn't feel fully conceived, none of the book's other characters or events felt authentic. They were forced rather than feeling like they were natural offshoots of her personality and decisions. Her "friends" were awful stereotypes of the most extreme people you'd find on social media, and I couldn't figure out why any of them would hang out.
There is an event about 200 pages in that was so inappropriate for this book and was handled so insensitively that I was appalled that it hadn't been cut out by the second draft. It took a horrible tragedy involving a person of color and turned that into a "learning" experience for the white main character.
On impulse, Sam (53), buys a fixer upper in a questionable neighborhood in Syracuse NY and moves in, leaving her husband, teenage daughter, and life in the suburbs. Having read the book, it's still not clear to me, or, after 270 pages of ruminating, to Sam, why she made this change. Her character never rang true to me. All of her justifications and miseries felt contrived and surface. The book never delved deeply enough into the reasons a woman might want to make such a startling change. Because Sam as a character didn't feel fully conceived, none of the book's other characters or events felt authentic. They were forced rather than feeling like they were natural offshoots of her personality and decisions. Her "friends" were awful stereotypes of the most extreme people you'd find on social media, and I couldn't figure out why any of them would hang out.
There is an event about 200 pages in that was so inappropriate for this book and was handled so insensitively that I was appalled that it hadn't been cut out by the second draft. It took a horrible tragedy involving a person of color and turned that into a "learning" experience for the white main character.
I'd never read anything by Dana Spiotta prior to 'Wayward' but I loved so many beautifully written lines throughout this book that I need to look into her previous work.
In the opening chapter, protagonist Samantha 'Sam' Raymond is running away. Despite a lovely home in the suburbs of Syracuse, marriage to the seemingly great Matt, and their smart, independent 16-year-old Ally, Sam really isn't doing well. Sam's in her early 50s and menopause is heading her way. Ally is perhaps too independent and living a life Sam knows little about. Her beloved mother is ill and not sharing as much information with Sam about her condition. To top it all off? The 2016 election and aftermath are devastating for Sam. How does she cope? On a whim she makes an offer on a older home she toured in the heart of Syracuse and realizes this action also means she's leaving her comfortable marriage. Matt is baffled and Ally cuts her off.
Sam is an interesting protagonist and Spiotta gives her so much development. Sam's a GenX, privileged white woman who has never really wanted for anything. (Matt insists on giving her generous checks after her departure as it's "their" money, but Sam suspects he's waiting for her to return.) She's not sure what her own internal conflicts are, but she realizes middle-aged white women are truly invisible and her epiphany often manifests rage she'd thought she'd left behind in her 20s. She's furious about the election. At first she joins Facebook groups with humorous names such as “Hardcore Hags, Harridans and Harpies” — “a resistance group for women over 50.” She meets a variety of new people who challenge her to examine ideas on feminism and even her day job of being a lecturer for the (fictional) Clara Loomis House, where Sam works three days a week as a lecturer explaining all of the noteworthy facts about Loomis, based more than a little on nineteenth-century suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage. Sam's even thrown out of her comfort zone when a teenager in one of the high school groups confronts Sam about not covering the interest and support Loomis gave to eugenics.
The novel is mostly Sam's point of view, but readers do get let into what's going on with Ally who has been keeping it secret that she's seeing a much older man and someone her parents both know. At a time when her mother could help her, Ally is ghosting her mom and dealing with some rage of her own.
A few events in the novel didn't seem to get the closure I would have liked, but the story is more about Sam, her desire to fix up an aging home (how allegorical!) and one woman's journey examining why her life has brought her to this point. I'd be friends with Sam.
In the opening chapter, protagonist Samantha 'Sam' Raymond is running away. Despite a lovely home in the suburbs of Syracuse, marriage to the seemingly great Matt, and their smart, independent 16-year-old Ally, Sam really isn't doing well. Sam's in her early 50s and menopause is heading her way. Ally is perhaps too independent and living a life Sam knows little about. Her beloved mother is ill and not sharing as much information with Sam about her condition. To top it all off? The 2016 election and aftermath are devastating for Sam. How does she cope? On a whim she makes an offer on a older home she toured in the heart of Syracuse and realizes this action also means she's leaving her comfortable marriage. Matt is baffled and Ally cuts her off.
Sam is an interesting protagonist and Spiotta gives her so much development. Sam's a GenX, privileged white woman who has never really wanted for anything. (Matt insists on giving her generous checks after her departure as it's "their" money, but Sam suspects he's waiting for her to return.) She's not sure what her own internal conflicts are, but she realizes middle-aged white women are truly invisible and her epiphany often manifests rage she'd thought she'd left behind in her 20s. She's furious about the election. At first she joins Facebook groups with humorous names such as “Hardcore Hags, Harridans and Harpies” — “a resistance group for women over 50.” She meets a variety of new people who challenge her to examine ideas on feminism and even her day job of being a lecturer for the (fictional) Clara Loomis House, where Sam works three days a week as a lecturer explaining all of the noteworthy facts about Loomis, based more than a little on nineteenth-century suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage. Sam's even thrown out of her comfort zone when a teenager in one of the high school groups confronts Sam about not covering the interest and support Loomis gave to eugenics.
The novel is mostly Sam's point of view, but readers do get let into what's going on with Ally who has been keeping it secret that she's seeing a much older man and someone her parents both know. At a time when her mother could help her, Ally is ghosting her mom and dealing with some rage of her own.
A few events in the novel didn't seem to get the closure I would have liked, but the story is more about Sam, her desire to fix up an aging home (how allegorical!) and one woman's journey examining why her life has brought her to this point. I'd be friends with Sam.
4.25- Great themes - aging, menopause, midlife coming of age, strife between generations, libertarianism, the online realms social media has created. I got bored maybe two times, but the book and Sam's tenacity and risk-taking kept me turning page after page. The parts that took place in Central New York in the 1800s were an interesting mirror to the plot-- and anything about the Oneida Utopian Community always piques my interest.