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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
I hated every moment of it but couldn't put it down? Not for the faint-hearted with mommy issues.
Gwendoline Riley deals with complex family relationships in this beautifully written novel. The novel is narrated by Bridget who is in her forties and lives with her partner John. But the novel isn’t about her relationship with John it concentrates on her troubled relationship with her mum Helen, known as Hen, who is twice divorced and now lives alone. Bridget also had an equally dysfunctional relationship with her over bearing father Lee, a narcissist who appears to feel threatened by the intellect of his daughter and takes every opportunity to prove how clever and well connected he is. This results in a number of uncomfortable and often amusing situations.
Her mother, Hen, is selfish and fickle and, although Hen tries to fit in, she seems unable to connect with people and always remains an outsider. She doesn’t even appear to connect with her daughters. All that we learn about Hen is from Bridget’s point of view and therefore may be tainted.
An elegantly written uncompromising analysis of a troubled family relationship.
Her mother, Hen, is selfish and fickle and, although Hen tries to fit in, she seems unable to connect with people and always remains an outsider. She doesn’t even appear to connect with her daughters. All that we learn about Hen is from Bridget’s point of view and therefore may be tainted.
An elegantly written uncompromising analysis of a troubled family relationship.
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-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
emotional
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
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
I haven't read a book in a while that had so many tributes from other writers—on the front cover, on the back cover, inside the front cover, inside the back cover, on both sides of the flyleaf—thirty in all! Perhaps I don't read enough contemporary novels.
Truth to tell, such quantities of praise eat away at my expectations, and I go into the reading with an eyebrow slightly raised. But reader, the first eyebrow was swiftly followed by the second as it hit me how good Gwendoline Riley's writing is!
So I went back and read the tributes properly and nodded in agreement over and over. I was disappointed that no one mentioned what I thought was the most interesting aspect: that this book reads like a true life memoir though it's not. The narrator is a most intriguingly written fictional character. She sounds like a writer, she paces her story with skill, moves back and forth in time expertly, knows how to describe scenes with a few carefully chosen words. But in spite of the fact that she writes mostly about her mother and father, and hardly mentions her personal life at all, it was what fascinated me the most, and I began to wonder how Gwendoline Riley had set about creating this memoir/novel.
I imagined her writing a larger story first, with the narrator, Bridget, fleshed out into a very complex character, and her parents and sister being secondary to Bridget's own story. Then I imagined Riley deciding to let Bridget narrate the whole thing herself, and because Riley had created her in so much detail, because she knew her so well, she allowed her to shape the story—and leave it full of gaps about herself. Because after all, the character who is telling the story can decide to leave out entire chunks and only examine what she wants to examine, and with as cold an eye as she chooses. But for all the gaps in this story, and the very cold and clinical approach to telling it, the novel really gets under your skin...devastating, bleak, unforgettable," to quote one of the tributes.
I'd add that Riley's novel is a master class in pared-back writing. I know that phrase sounds exactly like blurbspeak—but, well, none of the blurbs actually said it.
Truth to tell, such quantities of praise eat away at my expectations, and I go into the reading with an eyebrow slightly raised. But reader, the first eyebrow was swiftly followed by the second as it hit me how good Gwendoline Riley's writing is!
So I went back and read the tributes properly and nodded in agreement over and over. I was disappointed that no one mentioned what I thought was the most interesting aspect: that this book reads like a true life memoir though it's not. The narrator is a most intriguingly written fictional character. She sounds like a writer, she paces her story with skill, moves back and forth in time expertly, knows how to describe scenes with a few carefully chosen words. But in spite of the fact that she writes mostly about her mother and father, and hardly mentions her personal life at all, it was what fascinated me the most, and I began to wonder how Gwendoline Riley had set about creating this memoir/novel.
I imagined her writing a larger story first, with the narrator, Bridget, fleshed out into a very complex character, and her parents and sister being secondary to Bridget's own story. Then I imagined Riley deciding to let Bridget narrate the whole thing herself, and because Riley had created her in so much detail, because she knew her so well, she allowed her to shape the story—and leave it full of gaps about herself. Because after all, the character who is telling the story can decide to leave out entire chunks and only examine what she wants to examine, and with as cold an eye as she chooses. But for all the gaps in this story, and the very cold and clinical approach to telling it, the novel really gets under your skin...devastating, bleak, unforgettable," to quote one of the tributes.
I'd add that Riley's novel is a master class in pared-back writing. I know that phrase sounds exactly like blurbspeak—but, well, none of the blurbs actually said it.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Bleak and uncomfortable but sadly very relatable mother daughter relationship. Very engrossing.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes