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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Heather has done it again. Absolutely the best storyteller next to Jodi Piccoult. She does research about what she writes about. She understands motherhood SO SO WELL. Her ability to put into words what we, as mothers and fathers feel about our kids is just UNREAL. So amazing. She is an author whose books I buy after I listen to the audiobook- she is THAT GOOD. If you haven't read her work or listened to it, you are missing out on such a talented writer. Kate Rudd did an amazing job of narrating for the main character, Ellen.
Little Mercies is the fourth novel from Heather Gudenkauf and it is just as good as her others if not better. The last few books I had read were all light and easy enough reading so it was a change to read something more gritty and hard-hitting that dealt with a traumatic event that could so easily happen to anyone. It is essentially the story of how one small error can have such devastating consequences for a tight knit family and change their lives dramatically .
The story has two main characters Ellen - an overworked, stressed social worker and mum to three children, Leah (9) , Lucas (6) and Avery (11 months) - and Jenny – a ten year old girl who has been through untold horrors and has had to grow up way before her time. Each chapter is told from either Ellen or Jenny’s point of view so we get to experience how each character is feeling at any given time in the story.
One morning Ellen has overslept and is rushing for a morning meeting while trying to get her children ready for the day. She receives a phone call from one of the young children on her case list, the child is upset and terrified and needs Ellen's help as something terrible is happening at her home. Ellen rushes off to help little realising what her husband Adam had been trying to tell her. This will prove to have a devastating consequence for Ellen and her family.
One small mistake can have such a life altering consequence; this could so easily happen to anyone . Mothers are under such pressures these days and is extremely hard to keep on top of everything and strike the right balance between work and home life. But the tables are turned on Ellen when she becomes the focus of an investigation. How can she prove she was innocent and it was just a simple error of miscommunication?
Jenny is a child who has witnessed much in her short life and has to take on the adult role as her mother abandoned her and her father is also having difficulties in his life. Jenny ends up in the same city as Ellen and meets Ellen’s mother Maudene (who is a widow and works in a local diner). Maudene was a wonderful character she just seemed so sensitive, motherly and caring . Maudene knows the signs of abuse and takes Jenny under wing, trying to help her heal from the traumas she has suffered in the past. Poor Jenny was terrified and vulnerable yet was willing to place her trust in a strange adult. Jenny is determined to find her grandmother and here is where the link between Jenny and Ellen is established. I won’t reveal anymore just to say even at such a stressful, upsetting time for Ellen her kind, caring nature shone through in her willingness to help Jenny find the happy ending she deserved.
Heather Gudenkauf is not afraid to deal with serious life changing issues. This is an emotional, tough, heartbreaking story and even though I do not have children I still felt all the trauma and heartache Ellen was going through at the enforced separation from her child and her guilt for making such a simple mistake that she will have to live with for a long time to come. Although I did feel the character of Adam (Ellen’s husband) could have featured a bit more. I felt we really didn’t get to know him as he spent most of the book beside Avery’s bedside. The ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly , I would have preferred a few more twists and turns. Maybe some courtroom drama á la Jodi Picoult ! I want to know what happened to the characters after the story finished especially Jenny maybe even just a short story would suffice. Overall another emotionally charged and engaging read from Heather Gudenkauf which I would highly recommend.
The story has two main characters Ellen - an overworked, stressed social worker and mum to three children, Leah (9) , Lucas (6) and Avery (11 months) - and Jenny – a ten year old girl who has been through untold horrors and has had to grow up way before her time. Each chapter is told from either Ellen or Jenny’s point of view so we get to experience how each character is feeling at any given time in the story.
One morning Ellen has overslept and is rushing for a morning meeting while trying to get her children ready for the day. She receives a phone call from one of the young children on her case list, the child is upset and terrified and needs Ellen's help as something terrible is happening at her home. Ellen rushes off to help little realising what her husband Adam had been trying to tell her. This will prove to have a devastating consequence for Ellen and her family.
One small mistake can have such a life altering consequence; this could so easily happen to anyone . Mothers are under such pressures these days and is extremely hard to keep on top of everything and strike the right balance between work and home life. But the tables are turned on Ellen when she becomes the focus of an investigation. How can she prove she was innocent and it was just a simple error of miscommunication?
Jenny is a child who has witnessed much in her short life and has to take on the adult role as her mother abandoned her and her father is also having difficulties in his life. Jenny ends up in the same city as Ellen and meets Ellen’s mother Maudene (who is a widow and works in a local diner). Maudene was a wonderful character she just seemed so sensitive, motherly and caring . Maudene knows the signs of abuse and takes Jenny under wing, trying to help her heal from the traumas she has suffered in the past. Poor Jenny was terrified and vulnerable yet was willing to place her trust in a strange adult. Jenny is determined to find her grandmother and here is where the link between Jenny and Ellen is established. I won’t reveal anymore just to say even at such a stressful, upsetting time for Ellen her kind, caring nature shone through in her willingness to help Jenny find the happy ending she deserved.
Heather Gudenkauf is not afraid to deal with serious life changing issues. This is an emotional, tough, heartbreaking story and even though I do not have children I still felt all the trauma and heartache Ellen was going through at the enforced separation from her child and her guilt for making such a simple mistake that she will have to live with for a long time to come. Although I did feel the character of Adam (Ellen’s husband) could have featured a bit more. I felt we really didn’t get to know him as he spent most of the book beside Avery’s bedside. The ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly , I would have preferred a few more twists and turns. Maybe some courtroom drama á la Jodi Picoult ! I want to know what happened to the characters after the story finished especially Jenny maybe even just a short story would suffice. Overall another emotionally charged and engaging read from Heather Gudenkauf which I would highly recommend.
Wow this book was a roller coaster. I had no idea that the distraction that caused life repercussions was that! I don't want to spoil it in here, so that's what I am going to say about that. I cried, I gasped, it was brilliantly done! I think the message was perfect, that we as a whole are WAY too busy and we need to slow down and make sure we don't let something like this happen. I thought the author did a wonderful job telling the intermingled stories, and I read it without putting it down. Honestly it is a hard hitting deeply emotional book, but so well done, and I am glad I read it!
Heather Gudenkauf is a fantastic writer. Her style goes down easy and they are very suspenseful, while they are about topics that can happen to anyone.
Little Mercies was so emotionally good. You can feel the tension, the sadness, the overall weight on the main characters shoulders. The characters are wonderful and they cope with situations like real people.
I give it three stars because it was a very difficult book for me to swallow, NOT because of the writing but because of the subject matter. I just cannot handle violence done to children. I have two small children myself and it just makes me sick to read all the descriptions of events this social worker encounters.
Little Mercies was so emotionally good. You can feel the tension, the sadness, the overall weight on the main characters shoulders. The characters are wonderful and they cope with situations like real people.
I give it three stars because it was a very difficult book for me to swallow, NOT because of the writing but because of the subject matter. I just cannot handle violence done to children. I have two small children myself and it just makes me sick to read all the descriptions of events this social worker encounters.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Started off strong, and I had a lot of sympathy for the main character, but I thought it delved too much into sentimentality later in the book, and the writing is a little clunky in places. More completely review to come.
Full review:
I've read several of Gudenkauf's previous books and tend to like her writing style. However, this one didn't have the same effect for me. It started off strong and dealt with a topic I found very thought-provoking, putting me in the shoes of the main character, Ellen, but I thought later sections delved a bit too much into sentimentality. Some spoilers to follow.
The book starts with a simple premise that really made me think. On a harried day, a series of misunderstandings leads to Ellen inadvertently leaving her baby locked in a car on a hot day, resulting in serious medical consequences for her daughter and serious legal consequences for Ellen. I thought the author handled this issue with great sensitivity, and the parallel nature of the accident--it occurs while Ellen, a social worker, is intervening in a client's domestic issue that threatens the children's safety--was an interesting setup. I think that anyone who's a working parent knows what a blur the morning rush can be, as you're hurrying about getting yourself ready for work and your kids ready for school or daycare. Stay-at-home parents, too, can identify with the general craziness that comes from being a parent of multiple children, trying to keep everything organized and coordinated while often feeling as if you're barely keeping your head above water.
Ellen's excruciating guilt and the self-doubt she experiences are very convincing. She knows she didn't do anything wrong, but like most parents when something goes wrong with their child, she can't quite absolve herself of the conviction that she really is at fault. The accident also gives her a new perspective on some of her clients and what they've suffered as a result of their situations, and the times when she's had to have children removed from their custody.
What I most liked about this book is that I think it provides a pretty nuanced, though somewhat superficial view of a complex issue. Obviously abuse and neglect are unacceptable, but looking at things from a strictly black-and-white perspective allows us to ignore the pervasive and pernicious problems caused by things like substance abuse, poverty, relationship violence, etc. Ellen is good at what she does, but she comes to see that her perspective has sometimes been far too narrow. Yes, she wants to protect her juvenile clients, but she's sometimes done so at the expense of ignoring their parents' humanity.
The more problematic elements, I think, lie with Jenny. I liked her as a character, and I thought Gudenkauf did a good job of portraying a kid from a troubled background, but I found the plot surrounding her too contrived. I can't say much specific about it without giving away some major elements of the book, but I think I would have liked it better had Jenny's story not coincided with Ellen's as it did. In a way I thought this diminished the importance of Jenny's tale because it made it seem like no more than another aspect of Ellen's struggles to strike a balance between her family life and a job that understandably threatens to consume her.
The value of a book like this is in the new perspective a reader can gain. It does lack nuance when it comes to racial and religious elements, but it does give the reader a taste of what a social worker does. This is a job that I think is severely undervalued in society, and social workers make scandalously little money for what they do. Having to carry the psychological weight of their work is a burden, and what they do is so important to the fabric of society that it deserves more attention and more respect. Conversely, the book also puts readers in the shoes of people on the margins, though not to the same extent as it puts them in Ellen's shoes. Still, it provides some insight into what it's like for people for whom survival is a daily struggle, something that can be very easy to forget it you live in a solidly middle-class or upper-class neighborhood. Ellen goes through a process of recognizing that she brings her views into her work, views that aren't grounded in the same reality as that of the people she serves.
Finally, I found the resolution of the book a bit too pat. Things are tied up with a very neat bow, which does make for a satisfying ending, but far too often people in Jenny's or Ellen's position don't get the just, happy ending they deserve. It's a decent book about a very sensitive topic, but it doesn't do the topic quite enough justice.
Full review:
I've read several of Gudenkauf's previous books and tend to like her writing style. However, this one didn't have the same effect for me. It started off strong and dealt with a topic I found very thought-provoking, putting me in the shoes of the main character, Ellen, but I thought later sections delved a bit too much into sentimentality. Some spoilers to follow.
The book starts with a simple premise that really made me think. On a harried day, a series of misunderstandings leads to Ellen inadvertently leaving her baby locked in a car on a hot day, resulting in serious medical consequences for her daughter and serious legal consequences for Ellen. I thought the author handled this issue with great sensitivity, and the parallel nature of the accident--it occurs while Ellen, a social worker, is intervening in a client's domestic issue that threatens the children's safety--was an interesting setup. I think that anyone who's a working parent knows what a blur the morning rush can be, as you're hurrying about getting yourself ready for work and your kids ready for school or daycare. Stay-at-home parents, too, can identify with the general craziness that comes from being a parent of multiple children, trying to keep everything organized and coordinated while often feeling as if you're barely keeping your head above water.
Ellen's excruciating guilt and the self-doubt she experiences are very convincing. She knows she didn't do anything wrong, but like most parents when something goes wrong with their child, she can't quite absolve herself of the conviction that she really is at fault. The accident also gives her a new perspective on some of her clients and what they've suffered as a result of their situations, and the times when she's had to have children removed from their custody.
What I most liked about this book is that I think it provides a pretty nuanced, though somewhat superficial view of a complex issue. Obviously abuse and neglect are unacceptable, but looking at things from a strictly black-and-white perspective allows us to ignore the pervasive and pernicious problems caused by things like substance abuse, poverty, relationship violence, etc. Ellen is good at what she does, but she comes to see that her perspective has sometimes been far too narrow. Yes, she wants to protect her juvenile clients, but she's sometimes done so at the expense of ignoring their parents' humanity.
The more problematic elements, I think, lie with Jenny. I liked her as a character, and I thought Gudenkauf did a good job of portraying a kid from a troubled background, but I found the plot surrounding her too contrived. I can't say much specific about it without giving away some major elements of the book, but I think I would have liked it better had Jenny's story not coincided with Ellen's as it did. In a way I thought this diminished the importance of Jenny's tale because it made it seem like no more than another aspect of Ellen's struggles to strike a balance between her family life and a job that understandably threatens to consume her.
The value of a book like this is in the new perspective a reader can gain. It does lack nuance when it comes to racial and religious elements, but it does give the reader a taste of what a social worker does. This is a job that I think is severely undervalued in society, and social workers make scandalously little money for what they do. Having to carry the psychological weight of their work is a burden, and what they do is so important to the fabric of society that it deserves more attention and more respect. Conversely, the book also puts readers in the shoes of people on the margins, though not to the same extent as it puts them in Ellen's shoes. Still, it provides some insight into what it's like for people for whom survival is a daily struggle, something that can be very easy to forget it you live in a solidly middle-class or upper-class neighborhood. Ellen goes through a process of recognizing that she brings her views into her work, views that aren't grounded in the same reality as that of the people she serves.
Finally, I found the resolution of the book a bit too pat. Things are tied up with a very neat bow, which does make for a satisfying ending, but far too often people in Jenny's or Ellen's position don't get the just, happy ending they deserve. It's a decent book about a very sensitive topic, but it doesn't do the topic quite enough justice.
Books on tape. Very intense subject but so worth it!!!!!!!!! Think I probably enjoyed it better listening to it rather than actually reading it.
Absolutely loved this one! Story had me hooked from beginning to end! A must read!!
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In this book, Heather Gudenkaug tells a desperate tale about how misfortune can cause people to be torn away from the people they love and what they must do to get them back. The main characters, Jenny and Ellen both are put in sudden situations where they are taken away from the people they love the most. In their situations, their stories intertwine on their quests for hope. While their stories start with unfortunate events, they still try to make the most of their situations and get their lives back.
The characters in the story are very well written. Each character has their own struggles that effects their actions and decision making. The plot is driven by the mistakes and actions by these characters. While there are many twists and turns in the story that arae caused by the characters, all of these events occur in a way where the reader can understand how they came to be and what drives the characters to do what they do.
The characters in the story are very well written. Each character has their own struggles that effects their actions and decision making. The plot is driven by the mistakes and actions by these characters. While there are many twists and turns in the story that arae caused by the characters, all of these events occur in a way where the reader can understand how they came to be and what drives the characters to do what they do.
Heather definitely knows how to develop great characters and pull at those damn heart strings. This was so sad, but so powerful. It makes you think very hard about how things can happen, how to appreciate the people in your life....because in an instant it can be gone. Ellen was so smart, strong, and driven. But she wasn't invincible. She was human.
This story delves into the life of social worker Ellen Moore, who has a family and a career and is going about her life helping other children and parents get their lives back on track. We also meet Jenny, a 10-year old girl who just wants to have a normal life, despite her alcoholic but in no way detrimental father. She's been in foster homes and she's just waiting for the day her dad can get his life straight and they can enjoy a happy, lazy life on a houseboat. And have dinner every night, and shoes, and clothes: everything a child deserves. Then Ellen and Jenny's worlds intertwine and.....fall apart. This story was heartbreaking and extremely emotional. But it gave me goose bumps and chills, tears, made me cringe and cry out. Hell, I regret nothing.
This story delves into the life of social worker Ellen Moore, who has a family and a career and is going about her life helping other children and parents get their lives back on track. We also meet Jenny, a 10-year old girl who just wants to have a normal life, despite her alcoholic but in no way detrimental father. She's been in foster homes and she's just waiting for the day her dad can get his life straight and they can enjoy a happy, lazy life on a houseboat. And have dinner every night, and shoes, and clothes: everything a child deserves. Then Ellen and Jenny's worlds intertwine and.....fall apart. This story was heartbreaking and extremely emotional. But it gave me goose bumps and chills, tears, made me cringe and cry out. Hell, I regret nothing.