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A review by caseythecanadianlesbrarian
Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.5
My god, do I love Claire Oshetsky's writing:
"She loves her next-door neighbour, Ruby Bickford, and doesn't know it, because such a love lies just outside the window of Florence's imagination...She works at the downtown lunch counter, where she gives free pie slices to all the single men, because she still has ambition."
Their trademark odd combination of straightforward prose and everyday magic is present again in this story about grief, parenting, regret, childhood, fate, and the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. This book is sadder and more melancholy than Chouette (highly recommended by me, by the way) which has more of an edge of (motherly) anger and fierceness. Poor Deer actually has a very opposite portrayal of motherhood, one where the mother really ultimately fails to support her kid.
A beautiful book, but bring your tissues.
"She loves her next-door neighbour, Ruby Bickford, and doesn't know it, because such a love lies just outside the window of Florence's imagination...She works at the downtown lunch counter, where she gives free pie slices to all the single men, because she still has ambition."
Their trademark odd combination of straightforward prose and everyday magic is present again in this story about grief, parenting, regret, childhood, fate, and the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. This book is sadder and more melancholy than Chouette (highly recommended by me, by the way) which has more of an edge of (motherly) anger and fierceness. Poor Deer actually has a very opposite portrayal of motherhood, one where the mother really ultimately fails to support her kid.
A beautiful book, but bring your tissues.