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A review by amallard
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I don't cry at books, but there were tears in my eyes as I reached the final pages of If I Had Your Face. A deep sadness, though the moment the women create for themselves at the end is so sweet and tender, so full of hope in a way that calls to The Colour Purple. It is a moment just for them. But unlike Alice Walker's book, Cha's does not offer its protagonists a haven and escape from the relentless system that traps them, so I can't believe the moment's feelings will last. And somehow that's more painful than all the abuse they have suffered: the anticipation that more of it is coming. You cannot be there, a silent support, through whatever comes for them next.
Let's talk about the women, because I loved the women. Their conversations pass the Bechdel test at least fifteen thousand times. Looking back through the books I've read recently, this is a privilege I've been denied (and I've got Mort up next, so let's not hold our breath on the future looking sharp either).
The comradery is beautiful. Cha weaves the relationships between the four single girls so tightly into almost every scene, but still it crept up on me from behind, and I didn't notice the love that was there till it had its noose round my throat and I almost choked on a heartfelt - Oh. So that's what this is about.
I don't call them friendships, because that would be a dismissive oversimplification. Their dynamics are too complex for me to label them so brightly; they are sometimes cold, often situational, bound by circumstance and not choice. But they are always complex, there for each other like cousins or sisters. I adored their unflinching support of one another. Watched them tie themselves to each other so they might pull one another up to the water's surface as they drown.
I'm having a thoroughly good time getting to talk about women so much. There was neither idealisation nor degradation. They do get jealous; their pride leads them to look at the others' lives and think, if I were in your place, I would do so much better. This victim-blaming is of course a massive theme, going off the title alone, this assumption that a woman in difficulty is not doing everything she can to improve her circumstances. Cha does it nicely: she lets us stand by with an observer, passing moral judgement on the woman...then switches to her perspective, swivels her around, and says. Look. Her hands are tied.
Thank God it was not a book that tried to soften the blow for men! It does not coddle them. It does not say, "Oh, but not all men." Because that's irrelevant, and wrong, while all men continue to benefit from the situation. There is no token good guy, because they have been excused enough. I am so grateful that this is the rare book which, in addressing women's issues, does not feel the need to talk about men. It is not about men, only their violence and misogny and hatred of women.
I absolutely will not stand for any review that does not call this a good book, because that minimises how it is an important one.A criticism of it I've read appears to be the claim that its characters had insufficient arcs but - ludicrous as this may sound - this would not have been an appropriate feature for the novel. Cha could not implement developments that changed their situations, because she's not trying to fix them, she's showing they exist. Not something out of her head, but legitimate situations trapping real Korean women in this day and age.
Linked in with this is the accusation that the ending came unprecedented, with unsatisfactory resolution. But she'd reached the limits of their situations, painted to the borders of their portraits. To extend beyond would mean making ultimate decisions that either uplifted or condemned these women's fates for life.
This is stellar writing. I wish I could make every man read this. I wish I could make every man understand this.
Let's talk about the women, because I loved the women. Their conversations pass the Bechdel test at least fifteen thousand times. Looking back through the books I've read recently, this is a privilege I've been denied (and I've got Mort up next, so let's not hold our breath on the future looking sharp either).
The comradery is beautiful. Cha weaves the relationships between the four single girls so tightly into almost every scene, but still it crept up on me from behind, and I didn't notice the love that was there till it had its noose round my throat and I almost choked on a heartfelt - Oh. So that's what this is about.
I don't call them friendships, because that would be a dismissive oversimplification. Their dynamics are too complex for me to label them so brightly; they are sometimes cold, often situational, bound by circumstance and not choice. But they are always complex, there for each other like cousins or sisters. I adored their unflinching support of one another. Watched them tie themselves to each other so they might pull one another up to the water's surface as they drown.
I'm having a thoroughly good time getting to talk about women so much. There was neither idealisation nor degradation. They do get jealous; their pride leads them to look at the others' lives and think, if I were in your place, I would do so much better. This victim-blaming is of course a massive theme, going off the title alone, this assumption that a woman in difficulty is not doing everything she can to improve her circumstances. Cha does it nicely: she lets us stand by with an observer, passing moral judgement on the woman...then switches to her perspective, swivels her around, and says. Look. Her hands are tied.
Thank God it was not a book that tried to soften the blow for men! It does not coddle them. It does not say, "Oh, but not all men." Because that's irrelevant, and wrong, while all men continue to benefit from the situation. There is no token good guy, because they have been excused enough. I am so grateful that this is the rare book which, in addressing women's issues, does not feel the need to talk about men. It is not about men, only their violence and misogny and hatred of women.
I absolutely will not stand for any review that does not call this a good book, because that minimises how it is an important one.
Linked in with this is the accusation that the ending came unprecedented, with unsatisfactory resolution. But she'd reached the limits of their situations, painted to the borders of their portraits. To extend beyond would mean making ultimate decisions that either uplifted or condemned these women's fates for life.
This is stellar writing. I wish I could make every man read this. I wish I could make every man understand this.