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kendalsbookcase's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
reginacattus's review against another edition
2.0
Too artsy for my taste. Not unreadable, and okay when you get into it, but not much really happens. I guess if you like realism you might like this, and it does deal with the issues of finding your purpose and coping with the fear of losing someone in a pretty interesting way, but I just didn't like it really.
dotvicky's review against another edition
3.0
A careful story but never really truly grabbed my attention or heart.
krfurdui's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
andrew61's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book filled with ideas and fine writing such that it is one of those reads where you want to put it down and talk to someone about all the issues that it covers.
The opening chapter shows the creation of a child in a lyrically scientific piece of prose and we then learn that the child is 15 year old Miriam. One day at school Miriam has an anaphylactic shock and stops breathing but survives after receives Cpr and is rushed to hospital. This introduction then allows a story to emerge which has a number of elements.
Firstly the narrator is Miriam's dad Adam, a house husband , and we see how the event impacts on him personally and the family as a whole. His wife is a very busy GP,Emma, and they have a younger daughter Rose. Adam struggles to understand what has happened and the terror of losing their child with the potential of it happening again causes ripples in what appears to a normal middle class English family, the sense of impotence is palpable. The dynamics of the family are really well done and the writer especially portrays Miriam, a feisty intelligent 15year old brilliantly, similarly Rose somewhat younger is well drawn. I did however struggle with Adam and Emma. I understood the anxiety Adam suffers but I found him at times less than sympathetic. This may have been a deliberate aspect of the writing but he constantly is moaning to himself about his role and feeling put upon without explicitly expressing himself to Emma beyond minor mumbling,whilst Emma is having to manage her anxiety whilst carrying on in her demanding job yet I had little feel for Emma as a person save that she is under significant stress . Whilst the book is from Adam's perspective and I can't generally criticise the portrayal of the relationships this was an aspect I am still wondering about. Perhaps it is the turning upside down of the stereotypical relationships that tests the reader .
Another thread is Adam's research on the rebuilding of Coventry cathedral after the war by Basil Spence, I really enjoyed this aspect of the story and I was googling images as I read of architecture, tapestries and glass and have added it as one of those places to visit when I retire and can tour those brown signed places of interest in the country that you constantly pass on Britain's roads.
Finally we also meet Adam's dad and his story. We know that Adam grew up on a Cornish commune and his dad ,a widowed American, tells his granddaughters of his journey to the Uk as a young man after moving from hippy commune to hippy commune in 1960's America as the Vietnam draft looms, this more than anything tells us much about who Adam is and how his character has formed.
The book fizzes with discussion of issues troubling Britain today with polemical discussions about the state of the NHS and education. I did however get a bit frustrated with Adam's insistence on a his healthy lifestyle as he plans every meal and snack for maximum health benefit and entirely sympathized with rose as she moaned about all her friend having crisps in their lunchboxes.
Overall then a very interesting read which more than anything I've read recently gives a snapshot of middle class life in England today , its anxieties and pressures, although I don't feel it entirely gave a picture of men in 21st century England if this was one of the writers intentions (which I doubt it was), rather than a good picture of the state of modern family life and parenthood .
The opening chapter shows the creation of a child in a lyrically scientific piece of prose and we then learn that the child is 15 year old Miriam. One day at school Miriam has an anaphylactic shock and stops breathing but survives after receives Cpr and is rushed to hospital. This introduction then allows a story to emerge which has a number of elements.
Firstly the narrator is Miriam's dad Adam, a house husband , and we see how the event impacts on him personally and the family as a whole. His wife is a very busy GP,Emma, and they have a younger daughter Rose. Adam struggles to understand what has happened and the terror of losing their child with the potential of it happening again causes ripples in what appears to a normal middle class English family, the sense of impotence is palpable. The dynamics of the family are really well done and the writer especially portrays Miriam, a feisty intelligent 15year old brilliantly, similarly Rose somewhat younger is well drawn. I did however struggle with Adam and Emma. I understood the anxiety Adam suffers but I found him at times less than sympathetic. This may have been a deliberate aspect of the writing but he constantly is moaning to himself about his role and feeling put upon without explicitly expressing himself to Emma beyond minor mumbling,whilst Emma is having to manage her anxiety whilst carrying on in her demanding job yet I had little feel for Emma as a person save that she is under significant stress . Whilst the book is from Adam's perspective and I can't generally criticise the portrayal of the relationships this was an aspect I am still wondering about. Perhaps it is the turning upside down of the stereotypical relationships that tests the reader .
Another thread is Adam's research on the rebuilding of Coventry cathedral after the war by Basil Spence, I really enjoyed this aspect of the story and I was googling images as I read of architecture, tapestries and glass and have added it as one of those places to visit when I retire and can tour those brown signed places of interest in the country that you constantly pass on Britain's roads.
Finally we also meet Adam's dad and his story. We know that Adam grew up on a Cornish commune and his dad ,a widowed American, tells his granddaughters of his journey to the Uk as a young man after moving from hippy commune to hippy commune in 1960's America as the Vietnam draft looms, this more than anything tells us much about who Adam is and how his character has formed.
The book fizzes with discussion of issues troubling Britain today with polemical discussions about the state of the NHS and education. I did however get a bit frustrated with Adam's insistence on a his healthy lifestyle as he plans every meal and snack for maximum health benefit and entirely sympathized with rose as she moaned about all her friend having crisps in their lunchboxes.
Overall then a very interesting read which more than anything I've read recently gives a snapshot of middle class life in England today , its anxieties and pressures, although I don't feel it entirely gave a picture of men in 21st century England if this was one of the writers intentions (which I doubt it was), rather than a good picture of the state of modern family life and parenthood .
sjklass's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, the book jacket image is a painting, not a photo. (Artist - Paul Gaskell). This moving, melancholy novel is full of trickery and things are not what they seem. 15yr old Miriam dies at school one random day. Her heart and lungs just stop working. She is resuscitated but the doctors can't say why it happened or give assurances that it won't happen again.
Miriam's mom works 60hr weeks as a GP while her dad, a writer/researcher is a stay-at-home dad. He is writing a piece about the WWII bombing and post-war reconstruction of Coventry Cathedral (a surprisingly interesting side story). From the day of the 'incident' forward, their lives no longer go according to plan. After all, "a plan is just a story of the future". "It is simply not possible to live in a state of acute fear and shock for more than a couple weeks, and so the mind finds a path, a story, a way onwards. Shock is by definition transient, even when the shocking thing is here to stay". This is a thoroughly modern, beautifully written coming of age novel about gender politics, parenthood and the randomness of life and death, in wartime and in times of peace. Thanks for the recommendation, Jen Campbell!
Miriam's mom works 60hr weeks as a GP while her dad, a writer/researcher is a stay-at-home dad. He is writing a piece about the WWII bombing and post-war reconstruction of Coventry Cathedral (a surprisingly interesting side story). From the day of the 'incident' forward, their lives no longer go according to plan. After all, "a plan is just a story of the future". "It is simply not possible to live in a state of acute fear and shock for more than a couple weeks, and so the mind finds a path, a story, a way onwards. Shock is by definition transient, even when the shocking thing is here to stay". This is a thoroughly modern, beautifully written coming of age novel about gender politics, parenthood and the randomness of life and death, in wartime and in times of peace. Thanks for the recommendation, Jen Campbell!
jtr99's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
wendoxford's review against another edition
4.0
I am a great fan of Sarah Moss and seriously impressed by the scope and intensity of her writing. I find a woman writing a male protagonist something I almost place (with an intense curiosity) under the microscope but fiction is fiction!
A medical crisis tips the story into a cross-examination of family life before and after. The interplay of characters, domesticity, fear, upbringing, work life balance set against a Coventry backdrop and a project on the history of its cathedral sets the personal tragedy against a Guernica of human history.
The easy read quality belie acute observations on adapting to messy changing circumstances and shifting priorities.
A medical crisis tips the story into a cross-examination of family life before and after. The interplay of characters, domesticity, fear, upbringing, work life balance set against a Coventry backdrop and a project on the history of its cathedral sets the personal tragedy against a Guernica of human history.
The easy read quality belie acute observations on adapting to messy changing circumstances and shifting priorities.
luise96's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I really loved this book. The prose was just so beautiful. I could really feel the protagonist as a real person . However i did not really care too much about the parts about the cathedral and the protagonist‘s father. I also sometimes wished to see more of the other characters, like the wife, but I do understand that the protagonist was very preoccupied with his own thoughts and fears about his daughter.
lampsunnies's review against another edition
3.0
Edit 27/04/17:
I've been thinking about this book quite a bit since I've read it and I have finally come to terms with the fact that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I did. My problems I had with this book (the unnecessary storylines, the iffy writing etc.) just stick out to me more than the things I liked. Oh well.
I've been thinking about this book quite a bit since I've read it and I have finally come to terms with the fact that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I did. My problems I had with this book (the unnecessary storylines, the iffy writing etc.) just stick out to me more than the things I liked. Oh well.