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A review by book_concierge
Say Her Name by Francisco Goldman
2.0
Audio book narrated by Robert Fass
2.5**
Goldman found the love of his life in a decades younger grad student (not his student) from Mexico. He gave his heart to the brilliant, witty, exuberant Aura, and they were looking forward to starting a family when she was tragically killed during a beach holiday. This unexpected tragedy affected Francisco and Aura’s mother in ways no one expected. Francisco was completely bereft and lost in his grief. Eventually he wrote this “novel” – a barely fictionalized story of Aura and of their love.
I had such high hopes for this book. Everything I had read about it and what I was told by others who had read it (and whose opinion I trust) led me to believe this would be a wonderful testament to an enduring love that ended tragically. I was able to go hear the author speak when he was on the book tour, and was touched by his sincerity and emotion.
So what went wrong for me with this book? At first I thought it was the fault of the narrator. Fass does not have the right voice for this book. His tone is not “round” enough to tell the story of the Mexican Aura Estrada. Yes, I know the narrator of the book is Francisco, who was born and raised in the United States, but I’d heard the author read excerpts from the book, and Fass doesn’t sound like what I remembered Goldman sounding like. Still, I really do not think I can blame Fass and the audio version for my lackluster reaction. I have the text as well, and looking through it, reading sections on my own … I just don’t find the “heart” I was expecting.
I will say that the section where Goldman relates that final day at the beach is absolutely riveting. My heart breaks for Aura and Francisco, and all their friends and family, even for the “bystanders” who witnessed the events and tried to help, or shied away in horror. I wish the immediacy and emotion of these chapters had been present earlier and throughout the book.
2.5**
Goldman found the love of his life in a decades younger grad student (not his student) from Mexico. He gave his heart to the brilliant, witty, exuberant Aura, and they were looking forward to starting a family when she was tragically killed during a beach holiday. This unexpected tragedy affected Francisco and Aura’s mother in ways no one expected. Francisco was completely bereft and lost in his grief. Eventually he wrote this “novel” – a barely fictionalized story of Aura and of their love.
I had such high hopes for this book. Everything I had read about it and what I was told by others who had read it (and whose opinion I trust) led me to believe this would be a wonderful testament to an enduring love that ended tragically. I was able to go hear the author speak when he was on the book tour, and was touched by his sincerity and emotion.
So what went wrong for me with this book? At first I thought it was the fault of the narrator. Fass does not have the right voice for this book. His tone is not “round” enough to tell the story of the Mexican Aura Estrada. Yes, I know the narrator of the book is Francisco, who was born and raised in the United States, but I’d heard the author read excerpts from the book, and Fass doesn’t sound like what I remembered Goldman sounding like. Still, I really do not think I can blame Fass and the audio version for my lackluster reaction. I have the text as well, and looking through it, reading sections on my own … I just don’t find the “heart” I was expecting.
I will say that the section where Goldman relates that final day at the beach is absolutely riveting. My heart breaks for Aura and Francisco, and all their friends and family, even for the “bystanders” who witnessed the events and tried to help, or shied away in horror. I wish the immediacy and emotion of these chapters had been present earlier and throughout the book.