A review by haleyashtonpowell
The Living is Easy by Dorothy West

2.0

Sometimes brilliant authors can make characters so unlikeable that the book itself becomes insufferable. This is how I felt about Cleo Judson, the protagonist (and villain?) of The Living Is Easy. Anyone can tell Dorothy West is a fantastic writer, but our being so close to Cleo throughout almost all the narration-- the only relief we get is certain parts with The Duchess, but I did not admire even her-- made me so angry that I would have stopped reading if this wasn't for ENG460G. A lot of African-American literature is spotted with angering characters, but usually their circumstances explain some of this or allow for a larger discussion of society or human behavior. To put it into plain terms, Cleo's just a bitch through and through. Just when you think you might come to understand her, she goes a step further and does another unthinkable, horrible thing to someone she claims to care about.
Perhaps I'll read The Wedding, the more famous of West's two novels, but I do not see myself willingly returning to The Living Is Easy in my lifetime. I'm giving it two stars not out of necessary approval, but because West is a good enough writer to make me feel all this very real anger.