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sophiarose1816 's review for:
My Evil Mother
by Margaret Atwood
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Having taken note of her most famous book and others on her backlist, I figured I'd get to Margaret Atwood's books at some point, but was in no rush. Then I was offered My Evil Mother on audio as a freebie. It was a short story and it was narrated by an already favorite narrator. I decided this was my hint to finally give Atwood's storytelling a try.
As the story opened in a Canadian suburban neighborhood of the 1950's with a story told by the daughter, I was uncertain of the genre of the story having decided to plunge in without reading synopsis or details. Was it a horror? a magical realism? a modern historical? I mean this daughter did claim her mother was a witch who actually seemed to brew potions and talked like a witch.
A teenage girl has been reared by a single mom in an era and place when this would make her an oddity because all the other kids had two-parent homes and their moms didn't present themselves as witches or the odd personality who warned of an evil gym teacher rival witch, said the dad was turned into the garden gnome in the yard, or gave the pointed finger curse warning if she didn't leave off seeing a certain boy.
My Evil Mother is a tale focused on a mother-daughter relationship. Sometimes it was close and loving with just them against the world and sometimes it was antagonistic when the mother got overbearing as the daughter hit her adult years and things come full circle in life. The whole quickly listened to piece is told from the daughter's perspective as she came of age and living as an adult. She looks back on her childhood and her current life and curiosities and mysteries start to be unveiled. There is a bittersweet taste to this story particularly as the magic of childhood gives way to stark truth of adulthood, but this is balanced by the humor sprinkled throughout.
I was very taken with the development of characters, situation, and story. This is what I would describe as general fiction. Hilary Huber narrated with aplomb and I enjoyed the way she chose to voice this story and the few characters. All in all, my first dip of the toe into Margaret Atwood's writing was a resounding success.
As the story opened in a Canadian suburban neighborhood of the 1950's with a story told by the daughter, I was uncertain of the genre of the story having decided to plunge in without reading synopsis or details. Was it a horror? a magical realism? a modern historical? I mean this daughter did claim her mother was a witch who actually seemed to brew potions and talked like a witch.
A teenage girl has been reared by a single mom in an era and place when this would make her an oddity because all the other kids had two-parent homes and their moms didn't present themselves as witches or the odd personality who warned of an evil gym teacher rival witch, said the dad was turned into the garden gnome in the yard, or gave the pointed finger curse warning if she didn't leave off seeing a certain boy.
My Evil Mother is a tale focused on a mother-daughter relationship. Sometimes it was close and loving with just them against the world and sometimes it was antagonistic when the mother got overbearing as the daughter hit her adult years and things come full circle in life. The whole quickly listened to piece is told from the daughter's perspective as she came of age and living as an adult. She looks back on her childhood and her current life and curiosities and mysteries start to be unveiled. There is a bittersweet taste to this story particularly as the magic of childhood gives way to stark truth of adulthood, but this is balanced by the humor sprinkled throughout.
I was very taken with the development of characters, situation, and story. This is what I would describe as general fiction. Hilary Huber narrated with aplomb and I enjoyed the way she chose to voice this story and the few characters. All in all, my first dip of the toe into Margaret Atwood's writing was a resounding success.