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A review by eri_123
Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor-Johnson
4.0
This was an incredibly powerful novel on grief. BUT: there was a flaw in the central premise which has bothered me ever since.
We follow many, many characters (including the family dog??) in the wake of Jean's death (she has been 'doored' on her bicycle, AKA hit by a car door when the driver opened their door into traffic, and then run over accidentally by the character named Charley). Her death haunts Charley for the rest of the novel. However, we never hear from the driver who doored Jean, even though she caused the accident and therefore her death. (In Victoria, Australia, dooring is a traffic offence with fines and penalties). For an otherwise very detailed novel with a great many perspectives and narrators, this seems a fundamental oversight.
Otherwise: a deep, haunting read. Grief is the central theme, but in exploring a multitude of reactions to grief, the novel also examines family and parenthood, friendship, identity and living a meaningful life. It was a much deeper book than I was expecting and it was quite confronting and emotive to read - not quite a relaxed beach holiday read (as I was expecting!), but a really worthwhile book, and fantastic fiction with a regional feel (particular to regions of Australia and the USA, as per the author's background). Although the South Australian wine references were a bit contrived.
We follow many, many characters (including the family dog??) in the wake of Jean's death (she has been 'doored' on her bicycle, AKA hit by a car door when the driver opened their door into traffic, and then run over accidentally by the character named Charley). Her death haunts Charley for the rest of the novel. However, we never hear from the driver who doored Jean, even though she caused the accident and therefore her death. (In Victoria, Australia, dooring is a traffic offence with fines and penalties). For an otherwise very detailed novel with a great many perspectives and narrators, this seems a fundamental oversight.
Otherwise: a deep, haunting read. Grief is the central theme, but in exploring a multitude of reactions to grief, the novel also examines family and parenthood, friendship, identity and living a meaningful life. It was a much deeper book than I was expecting and it was quite confronting and emotive to read - not quite a relaxed beach holiday read (as I was expecting!), but a really worthwhile book, and fantastic fiction with a regional feel (particular to regions of Australia and the USA, as per the author's background). Although the South Australian wine references were a bit contrived.