Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
A quick read, if not a bit depressing at times.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
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
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fast read, but I found all of the characters unpleasant and the writing style distracting. I kept waiting for a moment where they won me over, it never happened.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Abortion
This is a review of an advanced reader copy.
Harriet Chance is 78 years old, widowed, and about to learn something that puts her entire life into question. After receiving a strange phone call informing her that her deceased husband had won a cruise but never cashed in the voucher (why did she not know this?), she decides to take he cruise with a good friend. Her friend backs out, but Harriet is undeterred and goes it alone. The cruise gets off to a shaky start with an unfortunate crab leg incident, and never really settles into a relaxing vacation for poor Harriet. Between the big revelation, visitations from her dead husband, and the appearance of her worried daughter partway into the cruise, Harriet is thrust into a reckoning of her life - including a few secrets of her own.
Harriet's story is told in snippets of the past and present, which works well as she reflects on what was and what could have been had things been different. She is endearing, but not without faults of her own; sometimes the victim and sometimes the perpetrator of wrongs done to others. Harriet is foremost human, and Evison has spun a tale that perfectly captures the joys and regrets of a 20th century woman's life. Harriet could be my mother, your grandmother... they have probably all experienced some aspect of Harriet's life as part of their own.
There's another aspect of this book that I really appreciate, as somebody familiar with the geographic region where this book takes place - accuracy. It might not mean anything to anybody outside of western Washington, but there really is a Denny's just off I-5 not too far south of Bellingham. I can easily imagine an elderly woman with her daughter stopping to eat there as they made their way north, looking totally normal to observers but experiencing the onset of the family crisis that is the center of this story.
One thing you is guaranteed when you read any book by Jonathan Evison - it won't be anything like his other books!
Harriet Chance is 78 years old, widowed, and about to learn something that puts her entire life into question. After receiving a strange phone call informing her that her deceased husband had won a cruise but never cashed in the voucher (why did she not know this?), she decides to take he cruise with a good friend. Her friend backs out, but Harriet is undeterred and goes it alone. The cruise gets off to a shaky start with an unfortunate crab leg incident, and never really settles into a relaxing vacation for poor Harriet. Between the big revelation, visitations from her dead husband, and the appearance of her worried daughter partway into the cruise, Harriet is thrust into a reckoning of her life - including a few secrets of her own.
Harriet's story is told in snippets of the past and present, which works well as she reflects on what was and what could have been had things been different. She is endearing, but not without faults of her own; sometimes the victim and sometimes the perpetrator of wrongs done to others. Harriet is foremost human, and Evison has spun a tale that perfectly captures the joys and regrets of a 20th century woman's life. Harriet could be my mother, your grandmother... they have probably all experienced some aspect of Harriet's life as part of their own.
There's another aspect of this book that I really appreciate, as somebody familiar with the geographic region where this book takes place - accuracy. It might not mean anything to anybody outside of western Washington, but there really is a Denny's just off I-5 not too far south of Bellingham. I can easily imagine an elderly woman with her daughter stopping to eat there as they made their way north, looking totally normal to observers but experiencing the onset of the family crisis that is the center of this story.
One thing you is guaranteed when you read any book by Jonathan Evison - it won't be anything like his other books!
Like a mashup of the old TV series This Is Your Life and Topper with Frederik Backman's Britt-Marie Was Here, this novel was predictable but fun. A smart-alecky omniscient writer narrator tells us and 78-year-old Harriet Chance how she got to where she is.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The problem wasn't that I guessed all the plot revelations way before they happened. And it wasn't the dour character of Harriet, who felt familiar and flawed, which is something I usually love. The story involves talking to dead people, which I've been known to do, and there is a life review—a habit of mine—so I should have been a huge fan. I think the problem was that the smart aleck omniscient narrator doesn't seem to like, empathize with, or respect Harriet, and the direction of his (the voice has a distinct male feeling and does not feel remotely like an alter-ego Harriet which, toward the end, seems intended) flippant finger-pointing made me, the reader, a voyeur. This narrator seems to have a complete understanding of Harriet's psychology—an understanding which could result in compassion—but he used his knowledge harshly (which felt particularly cruel when he dealt with her childhood pain). Toward the end, he diagnoses Harriet with "contempt," and I found myself wondering if there is some of that in the narrator—so much so that I actually wanted defend Harriet from him and get to know her without him. Still, the book was well written, clever, and entertaining enough to read to the end.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. The problem wasn't that I guessed all the plot revelations way before they happened. And it wasn't the dour character of Harriet, who felt familiar and flawed, which is something I usually love. The story involves talking to dead people, which I've been known to do, and there is a life review—a habit of mine—so I should have been a huge fan. I think the problem was that the smart aleck omniscient narrator doesn't seem to like, empathize with, or respect Harriet, and the direction of his (the voice has a distinct male feeling and does not feel remotely like an alter-ego Harriet which, toward the end, seems intended) flippant finger-pointing made me, the reader, a voyeur. This narrator seems to have a complete understanding of Harriet's psychology—an understanding which could result in compassion—but he used his knowledge harshly (which felt particularly cruel when he dealt with her childhood pain). Toward the end, he diagnoses Harriet with "contempt," and I found myself wondering if there is some of that in the narrator—so much so that I actually wanted defend Harriet from him and get to know her without him. Still, the book was well written, clever, and entertaining enough to read to the end.
I'm probably being mean only giving this two stars, but there were too many things I didn't care for about this book. The style, the jumping back and forth time line, a couple of plot twists, the fact that in one way the story is wrapped up too neatly and in another way not really wrapped up at all. Wouldn't recommend
I was hoping this was going to be the story of a woman taking the reigns of her life after her husband dies and she learns how he betrayed her. It wasn't. The story was too predictable. The entire storyline with the husband's "ghost" was underdeveloped. The molestation flashbacks were not given the weight and tone they deserved. This was an easy read and had some good humor but overall it was disappointing.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was a little confusing at times as it jumped around and the narrator sometimes talked directly to reader and sometimes to character. But it was a quick, fun read with a lot of layers and insights on relationships, forgiveness and making peace with life’s circumstances and the choices we make.