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Note: This review discusses what I believe to be an inappropriate plot point of Black trauma to further the storyline of a white protagonist by a white author. I am a white reader/reviewer, and I encourage readers to prioritize and amplify the opinions of Black readers/reviewers over my own.
Thank you to Knopf for the gifted copy of Wayward.
Wayward is a novel that explores motherhood, womanhood, menopause, and aging through Sam- a multidimensional protagonist, with moments of narration by her teenage daughter Ally. In the wake of Sam's mother's declining health and her own strained relationship with her husband and daughter, Sam decides to move out of her family's suburban home into a fixer-upper old home in a nearby neighborhood.
Unfortunately this novel fell short for me. WARNING, SPOILERS. I’m including several spoilers as they are critical to my issue with this novel.
Within this last 100 pages of the novel, we follow as Sam: reveals CPS was previously called due to Sam's behavior while Ally was receiving emergency care, discovers Ally is dating a 29 year old friend of her husband, witnesses the murder of an unarmed Black teenager at the hands of police, suffers from a seizure (which may have been a physical attack; it's unclear) and wakes up in the hospital wounded and confused.
This number of events is so difficult to process, especially within a short number of pages, and I believe it lacks the space to give appropriate attention to a traumatic plot point involving the murder of a Black teenager by police. I am so so confused by this decision, as this is a novel exploring aging and motherhood through the lens of a white woman character, and I believe this plot line to be largely irrelevant to these themes. Additionally, this triggering scene is not mentioned in the blurb provided by the publisher, which I believe is irresponsible.
I completely welcome feedback that disagrees with my assessment, and again I defer to the opinions of Black readers/reviewers.
Thank you to Knopf for the gifted copy of Wayward.
Wayward is a novel that explores motherhood, womanhood, menopause, and aging through Sam- a multidimensional protagonist, with moments of narration by her teenage daughter Ally. In the wake of Sam's mother's declining health and her own strained relationship with her husband and daughter, Sam decides to move out of her family's suburban home into a fixer-upper old home in a nearby neighborhood.
Unfortunately this novel fell short for me. WARNING, SPOILERS. I’m including several spoilers as they are critical to my issue with this novel.
Within this last 100 pages of the novel, we follow as Sam: reveals CPS was previously called due to Sam's behavior while Ally was receiving emergency care, discovers Ally is dating a 29 year old friend of her husband, witnesses the murder of an unarmed Black teenager at the hands of police, suffers from a seizure (which may have been a physical attack; it's unclear) and wakes up in the hospital wounded and confused.
This number of events is so difficult to process, especially within a short number of pages, and I believe it lacks the space to give appropriate attention to a traumatic plot point involving the murder of a Black teenager by police. I am so so confused by this decision, as this is a novel exploring aging and motherhood through the lens of a white woman character, and I believe this plot line to be largely irrelevant to these themes. Additionally, this triggering scene is not mentioned in the blurb provided by the publisher, which I believe is irresponsible.
I completely welcome feedback that disagrees with my assessment, and again I defer to the opinions of Black readers/reviewers.