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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
fast-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-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
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-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
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Alcohol
This small novella is a remarkable read on two levels, a domestic story about the tyrany of a brutal patriarch, but also as a metaphor for the German experience.
The story is about a mother and her two children, narrated by the older daughter, they wait expectantly for the return of their father and the announcement of his promotion. The mother is cooking a meal of mussels and fried potatoes, the mussels are both a feast but also in their preparation a horror.
As the family sit around the table their father fails to arrive and in their chatter we slowly find out what hides behind the closed doors and apparent respectability.
I devoured this book and put it down as if having feasted on the wonderfully told story but similarly disgusted by looking under the stone of hidden domestic abuse and for a book written pre fall of the wall the image of a paternalistic and oppressive state.
The story is about a mother and her two children, narrated by the older daughter, they wait expectantly for the return of their father and the announcement of his promotion. The mother is cooking a meal of mussels and fried potatoes, the mussels are both a feast but also in their preparation a horror.
As the family sit around the table their father fails to arrive and in their chatter we slowly find out what hides behind the closed doors and apparent respectability.
I devoured this book and put it down as if having feasted on the wonderfully told story but similarly disgusted by looking under the stone of hidden domestic abuse and for a book written pre fall of the wall the image of a paternalistic and oppressive state.
My heart is beating quite fast after finishing this book. Let me be clear though, nothing happens (and that isn’t a spoiler - it says it in the blurb). The book takes place over a 3-4 hour period. A family sits at a table waiting for the father to come home and the daughter’s memories flow like a tide coming in. The repetition of her inner thoughts allow little bits more of their history to be discovered, before running back and reiterating key points, then we travel a bit further, and a bit further. Initially I thought this prosaic tide was beautiful, then irritating, then genius and tense. A fantastic book, yet again, from Peirene Press.
dark
reflective
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