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A review by jacki_f
A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster
3.0
This chilling novel is by a New Zealand author and it has similarities to The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud or Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller.
It’s narrated by Olga, an older woman who is very invested in her friendship with one of her neighbours, Lara. Lara is a new grandmother and Olga gets heavily involved with helping to care for baby Michael. At first her help is gratefully received, but as Michael’s mother grows more confident in her role you can tell that Olga is being gently rebuffed, although she resists it.
Olga is an unpleasant character and the book’s central flaw is that I actively disliked spending time in her head. Having said that, there’s the sickening feeling of watching a slow motion car crash as you can see where her distorted thinking is taking her and get a sense that she’s going to do something irrational. The ending is powerful and shocking. Not a book you like necessarily, but one that you won’t forget easily.
It’s narrated by Olga, an older woman who is very invested in her friendship with one of her neighbours, Lara. Lara is a new grandmother and Olga gets heavily involved with helping to care for baby Michael. At first her help is gratefully received, but as Michael’s mother grows more confident in her role you can tell that Olga is being gently rebuffed, although she resists it.
Olga is an unpleasant character and the book’s central flaw is that I actively disliked spending time in her head. Having said that, there’s the sickening feeling of watching a slow motion car crash as you can see where her distorted thinking is taking her and get a sense that she’s going to do something irrational. The ending is powerful and shocking. Not a book you like necessarily, but one that you won’t forget easily.