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A review by katykelly
The Good Children by Roopa Farooki
3.0
3.5 stars. I wanted to award more. This took my several days, much longer than it normally would. While it's well written, it's ultimately not a life-changer or uplifting story, though it does make you think about what family is, what family means.
Four children narrate Farooki's latest book about a family's lives over several decades, from a childhood ruled over by an oppressive and dictatorial 'social butterfly' mother to the lives they lead after they are forced from the nest - the boys to study medicine in separate countries, the girls to marriages. The narration flits from time period to period, mostly moving forward with occasional forays back to pertinent moments in their pasts. And always, their mother is always in the background, never too far from their thoughts.
I did quite enjoy reading this, but I also found, when I stopped, I didn't have my usual motivation to pick up on the tale again. The main narrator and eldest brother Sully I didn't actually like as much as I wanted to - he's learned to be browbeaten and put down by his upbringing. Jakey's tale of forbidden love smacked the most of truth, the girls were less well drawn, especially the angelic Lana. Stronger Mae held promise but nothing really came of it.
It's all about the lives resulting from a strict childhood overshadowed by a callous and manipulative mother, with a father looking powerlessly on. I didn't feel it brought much to the table in terms of deepening understanding of the strict Indian family but I could picture their home and lives in India from Farooki's descriptions.
I felt somewhat empty at the end, wondering at the point of it all, though I do admire her writing, and have enjoyed the other books of hers I've read immensely. Not one I'd reread, and not her best, in my opinion.
Four children narrate Farooki's latest book about a family's lives over several decades, from a childhood ruled over by an oppressive and dictatorial 'social butterfly' mother to the lives they lead after they are forced from the nest - the boys to study medicine in separate countries, the girls to marriages. The narration flits from time period to period, mostly moving forward with occasional forays back to pertinent moments in their pasts. And always, their mother is always in the background, never too far from their thoughts.
I did quite enjoy reading this, but I also found, when I stopped, I didn't have my usual motivation to pick up on the tale again. The main narrator and eldest brother Sully I didn't actually like as much as I wanted to - he's learned to be browbeaten and put down by his upbringing. Jakey's tale of forbidden love smacked the most of truth, the girls were less well drawn, especially the angelic Lana. Stronger Mae held promise but nothing really came of it.
It's all about the lives resulting from a strict childhood overshadowed by a callous and manipulative mother, with a father looking powerlessly on. I didn't feel it brought much to the table in terms of deepening understanding of the strict Indian family but I could picture their home and lives in India from Farooki's descriptions.
I felt somewhat empty at the end, wondering at the point of it all, though I do admire her writing, and have enjoyed the other books of hers I've read immensely. Not one I'd reread, and not her best, in my opinion.