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A review by okiecozyreader
Magpie by Elizabeth Day
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
I really enjoyed this psychological story - and I didn’t ever really know where it was going. To begin with, we hear Marissa’s story. She meets a guy who really seems to fill her need of being cared for and becomes pregnant. She tells us there is a renter Kate, who shows up unexpectedly at her yoga class and then she senses this woman knows Jake better than she expected. There is a crucial scene and then we get the perspective from Kate.
This article is great about this book (but is a bit of a spoiler as to what is really happening) https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/elizabeth-day-on-jealousy-power-motherhood-in-her-new-book-magpie
There are major triggers for this book: date rape, emotional/psychological disorders
Quotes -
Ch 3
Light filtered through the sliding doors, and on the lawn outside were two magpies, strutting around each other, pecking the grass with jittery movements as if they knew they were being watched. She remembered the first time she came to see the house and the bird that had flown indoors. One for sorrow, Marisa thought, two for joy. It was a sign, she told herself
Ch 4
… so blissfully content to be with a man who understood the safety she wanted before she understood it herself.
Ch 5
The study in which Marisa paints becomes , in these fevered imaginings, a sort of storage cupboard that she has to fold herself into, taking the least amount of space and creating the smallest amount of bother so jake will never have a reason to break up with her.
Ch 6
Something unwanted had forced itself into her, like shrapnel, and her entire self had to grow around it over the years that followed , warping the muscle and skin out of shape until the scar became a misshapen part of her, something she simply had to work around.
Ch 8
It’s because she has no boundaries. She is constantly trying to insert herself into situations that have nothing to do with her…
Ch 10
She wants her suspicions proved right, while at the same time knowing that this will undo her. It will smash apart everything that she has ever wanted.
Ch 11
She was good at telling herself stories
Stories worked out better than real life
Forcefield of loneliness
Lesson life has been trying to teach her. She will never be a mom.
She will count to ten over and over again
Ch 17
She has always thought she would do the right thing
Ch 26
Spots a magpie and salutes it
Mistress of her own reinvention
She feels at once very old and very young
This article is great about this book (but is a bit of a spoiler as to what is really happening) https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/elizabeth-day-on-jealousy-power-motherhood-in-her-new-book-magpie
There are major triggers for this book: date rape, emotional/psychological disorders
Quotes -
Ch 3
Light filtered through the sliding doors, and on the lawn outside were two magpies, strutting around each other, pecking the grass with jittery movements as if they knew they were being watched. She remembered the first time she came to see the house and the bird that had flown indoors. One for sorrow, Marisa thought, two for joy. It was a sign, she told herself
Ch 4
… so blissfully content to be with a man who understood the safety she wanted before she understood it herself.
Ch 5
The study in which Marisa paints becomes , in these fevered imaginings, a sort of storage cupboard that she has to fold herself into, taking the least amount of space and creating the smallest amount of bother so jake will never have a reason to break up with her.
Ch 6
Something unwanted had forced itself into her, like shrapnel, and her entire self had to grow around it over the years that followed , warping the muscle and skin out of shape until the scar became a misshapen part of her, something she simply had to work around.
Ch 8
It’s because she has no boundaries. She is constantly trying to insert herself into situations that have nothing to do with her…
Ch 10
She wants her suspicions proved right, while at the same time knowing that this will undo her. It will smash apart everything that she has ever wanted.
Ch 11
She was good at telling herself stories
Stories worked out better than real life
Forcefield of loneliness
Lesson life has been trying to teach her. She will never be a mom.
She will count to ten over and over again
Ch 17
She has always thought she would do the right thing
Ch 26
Spots a magpie and salutes it
Mistress of her own reinvention
She feels at once very old and very young
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis