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A review by bluedijon
Homestead by Melinda Moustakis
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I wanted to really love this book, and I really did like it, but it felt like it was just shy of something amazing. Maybe it's because I wanted it to be something it's not.
At its core, this book is a character study of two people, and what brings them together and what motivates them to stay on the land. This is very much from a White settler perspective, and while there are respectful inclusions of some Native characters, there's never really a question of whether the couple should be on the land to begin with. Which wouldn't be something that a homesteader would think of, but it feels like it was a question I wanted to ask a bit about. Particularly in comparison with another novel I read after (Lone Women) it does feel a bit like a gap.
The prose was gorgeous, though, and the character exploration was thoughtful, empathetic, and critical. I just kept having a feeling as I was reading that it was missing one last piece of the puzzle.
At its core, this book is a character study of two people, and what brings them together and what motivates them to stay on the land. This is very much from a White settler perspective, and while there are respectful inclusions of some Native characters, there's never really a question of whether the couple should be on the land to begin with. Which wouldn't be something that a homesteader would think of, but it feels like it was a question I wanted to ask a bit about. Particularly in comparison with another novel I read after (Lone Women) it does feel a bit like a gap.
The prose was gorgeous, though, and the character exploration was thoughtful, empathetic, and critical. I just kept having a feeling as I was reading that it was missing one last piece of the puzzle.