A review by kingcrookback
The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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
This was pitched to me as a thriller, and while there was tension in this story, I'd say that this is more of a very dark, very sad character study. Gillian Flynn-esque in the sense that it grapples with themes of childhood trauma/abuse and contemplation of motherhood but with timelines not quite so pressing or urgent. It would have been very easy for Tucker to have made Chrissie out to be an inscrutable monster, but while her actions are hideous, she is still a child - pitiable, at times exasperating or ridiculous, but replete with the kind of logic and understanding of the world that fills only those who are still new to life. As for Julia, for a while I couldn't figure out if having and caring (so deeply) for Molly stemmed from a sense of ingrained selfishness or newly developed selflessness, until I figured that it made more sense for the answer to be "both," no clean lines and no clear-cut answer.
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