A review by karrative
Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Till the picture of Dolly came up at the end, I kept wondering why was this shortlisted for the Women's Prize. Not that it was bad, but just meh? I found it quite hard to root for Dolly. She wasn't an unlikeable character per se but there was not that much conflict (beyond her father forbidding her from teaching) and, at this stage of my life I daydream about settling, so restlessness kinda irks me. Moreover, the plot was a bit repetitive after a few different moves of her and Bert, they all bled into one and they weren't really pulled apart by the narration either. LIke, when they decide to build the house, the process of building takes less than a page. Still, there were somethings I appreciated. The psychological portray of why (and how) Dolly stays with Bert after finding out Sally was quite powerful and plausible I thought. And the relationship between her and her daughter Nancy was very well-portrayed and interesting. Even though, the culminative scene (Dolly screaming that Nancy will become a teacher over her body, like Dolly's father said to her) was a bit on the nose, the idea that under oppressive structures the relationship between two members of the oppressed groups is likely to foster mutual resentment was thought-provoking and resonated with me.
Where the book really shines though, is after the post-pic context is provided. Being told that this entire book is a family retelling or perhaps a reclaiming narrative provides such a different context. On the one hand, initially, I didn't like that Cathy would write a book making her grandmother look 'better', it felt disloyal to her mother. On the other hand, as a book, which attempts to answer her mother's dying concerns (why didn't she love me?), the retelling is much more beautiful. Ultimately, the precise way of storytelling in this book was not my favourite at the time of reading, but I like the thicknesss of reflection the book provided.