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A review by dandelionfluff
Brooklyn Rose by Ann Rinaldi
2.0
So I read this when it came out, and for the life of me could not remember what it was until last night in a grand epiphany it came to me: Brooklyn Rose! Surely I can find it again and have reviews help me remember just what drove me to it in the first place.
And, reading the other reviews, I've got to say that yeah, I definitely remember being dissatisfied and a bit weirded out by this plot.
While I can't remember the exact details of the narrative, I can remember having to constantly remind myself that being married at 15 to someone twice your age was once upon a time very normal. And, I also remember how the whole sex thing was never adequately addressed, even though she's basically a child, and is constantly treated like one.
This was the most glaring issue for me: as a teenager, I distinctly felt the pangs of wanting to be seen as someone who possesses a brain of her own, while simultaneously becoming my own person. This protagonist, however, is a mere 15 years old and is already being given the responsibilities of wife and mother. How on earth could anyone properly fall into this role without strict guidance? No wonder her husband treats her the way he does; he's practically a father-figure and later father-to-be. Creepy? Creepy.
I cringe at writing zingers, but here we are: I'm not a Rinaldi fan, so I can't measure this up to her other work, but as a book of Young Adult Historical Fiction, I feel it could have been written with a bit more sensitivity and deeper exploration of what it was like to be this young in this time period, being a mother and wife with a husband who's significantly older. The psychology must be fascinating, but reading this, I'm still left guessing.
And, reading the other reviews, I've got to say that yeah, I definitely remember being dissatisfied and a bit weirded out by this plot.
Spoiler
While I can't remember the exact details of the narrative, I can remember having to constantly remind myself that being married at 15 to someone twice your age was once upon a time very normal. And, I also remember how the whole sex thing was never adequately addressed, even though she's basically a child, and is constantly treated like one.
This was the most glaring issue for me: as a teenager, I distinctly felt the pangs of wanting to be seen as someone who possesses a brain of her own, while simultaneously becoming my own person. This protagonist, however, is a mere 15 years old and is already being given the responsibilities of wife and mother. How on earth could anyone properly fall into this role without strict guidance? No wonder her husband treats her the way he does; he's practically a father-figure and later father-to-be. Creepy? Creepy.
I cringe at writing zingers, but here we are: I'm not a Rinaldi fan, so I can't measure this up to her other work, but as a book of Young Adult Historical Fiction, I feel it could have been written with a bit more sensitivity and deeper exploration of what it was like to be this young in this time period, being a mother and wife with a husband who's significantly older. The psychology must be fascinating, but reading this, I'm still left guessing.