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A review by sde
Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray
5.0
I loved this book. No, it is not literary fiction. Yes, most of the characters other than the narrator, Clover, are one-dimensional and sometimes annoying. But the premise of the book - that middle aged women are becoming literally invisible due to the a combination of prescription drugs they are taking - is so much fun.
Perhaps the book only spoke to me because I am entering that "invisible" period of life that many women experience. Sometimes it can be frustrating to not really be noticed, but there is also a freedom in being able to do pretty much whatever you want (within reason) and nobody stops or hassles you. I have moved past barricades, handled all sorts of expensive stuff at stores, strolled on the side of the street near "No Trespassing" signs, and no one has batted an eye. Any teenager doing similar things would be followed or stopped.
Clover experiences both this pain and excitement at being invisible. Although she would love to be seen, as time goes on she starts to take advantage of being invisible to affect people's lives and to promote the invisible women's call for action on the part of the drug company, who, it seems, has known about this problem for a long time but has been hushing it up.
Clover gains strength from other women, especially the other invisible women she meets, and her malaise, which has been around long before she became invisible, begins to lift. And this uplifted me as a reader as well.
Oh, and my public library has this classified as fantasy, but I wouldn't call it fantasy at all, no matter how many times I've fantasized about being invisible! I haven't read the fantasy genre much, but this story, despite the premise, seems too realistic to me to be called fantasy.
Perhaps the book only spoke to me because I am entering that "invisible" period of life that many women experience. Sometimes it can be frustrating to not really be noticed, but there is also a freedom in being able to do pretty much whatever you want (within reason) and nobody stops or hassles you. I have moved past barricades, handled all sorts of expensive stuff at stores, strolled on the side of the street near "No Trespassing" signs, and no one has batted an eye. Any teenager doing similar things would be followed or stopped.
Clover experiences both this pain and excitement at being invisible. Although she would love to be seen, as time goes on she starts to take advantage of being invisible to affect people's lives and to promote the invisible women's call for action on the part of the drug company, who, it seems, has known about this problem for a long time but has been hushing it up.
Clover gains strength from other women, especially the other invisible women she meets, and her malaise, which has been around long before she became invisible, begins to lift. And this uplifted me as a reader as well.
Oh, and my public library has this classified as fantasy, but I wouldn't call it fantasy at all, no matter how many times I've fantasized about being invisible! I haven't read the fantasy genre much, but this story, despite the premise, seems too realistic to me to be called fantasy.