Scan barcode
A review by loriluo
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott
3.0
At first glance, Alice looks like she has the ideal life; as a Mohawk woman married to a white man name Steve (who is coincidentally studying her culture and language), she's just given birth to her daughter Dawn and moved into a wealthy Toronto suburb to raise her family. But Alice's struggles are numerous: she's having trouble juggling the newfound responsibilities of motherhood on her own (mostly due to her husband's insistence); she harbors an inexplicable resentment against her husband for how seamlessly and effortlessly he seems to take on aspects of her culture; and she struggles to write her take on the Haudenosaunee creation story that her late father recounted to her.
The first half of this novel was the most engrossing for me as we really get to understand Alice's character and situation, including a number of flashbacks to her childhood that cover her encounters with her peers on the "Rez" and what happened to Alice's mother and father -events that shape who she is in the present. Her situation as a female minority was one I connected to as well, despite not being Native American, and I shared in her frustrations with feeling unheard and frequently talked over. I struggled with the second half of the novel however, which read like a fever dream in many instances. I'm sure there's a lot of complex symbolism and interpretations that I was unable to comprehend, but I struggled with separating what was real with what was... not.
There's a lot of heavy subject matter packed into this novel including substance abuse, mental illness, sexism, racism, and the thin border between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Worth a read for those who are curious, but be prepared for a wild ride!
Thank you Dutton Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!
The first half of this novel was the most engrossing for me as we really get to understand Alice's character and situation, including a number of flashbacks to her childhood that cover her encounters with her peers on the "Rez" and what happened to Alice's mother and father -events that shape who she is in the present. Her situation as a female minority was one I connected to as well, despite not being Native American, and I shared in her frustrations with feeling unheard and frequently talked over. I struggled with the second half of the novel however, which read like a fever dream in many instances. I'm sure there's a lot of complex symbolism and interpretations that I was unable to comprehend, but I struggled with separating what was real with what was... not.
There's a lot of heavy subject matter packed into this novel including substance abuse, mental illness, sexism, racism, and the thin border between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Worth a read for those who are curious, but be prepared for a wild ride!
Thank you Dutton Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!