Scan barcode
saintmaud's review
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
Oh Magda, the writer that you are!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Antisemitism and War
_bluelily's review against another edition
dark
emotional
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dejaramil's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Two very different woman, in age and perspectives, build a strong bond unlike any other. Their friendship blooms in unspoken and spoken truths.
This book has the reader hone in on what it means to have a soulmate. A soulmate not in a lustful manner, but in spirit. Where one lacks, the other provides; and vice verse. The words are full of detail and the perspectives are vastly different between the woman, but life will out. Relationships are not formed because we believe the same things. Relationships are formed because we recognize the beauty in the individuals actions and life! We see the whole person! & that is what this tale reminds you to do.
This book has the reader hone in on what it means to have a soulmate. A soulmate not in a lustful manner, but in spirit. Where one lacks, the other provides; and vice verse. The words are full of detail and the perspectives are vastly different between the woman, but life will out. Relationships are not formed because we believe the same things. Relationships are formed because we recognize the beauty in the individuals actions and life! We see the whole person! & that is what this tale reminds you to do.
cameronbmoon's review against another edition
4.0
Apologies for the delay .. I’ve been.. gaming. A lot.
Even though it took me over a month (busy gaming), this was a great read. I’ve never read a book quite like it.
Even though it took me over a month (busy gaming), this was a great read. I’ve never read a book quite like it.
marouli's review against another edition
5.0
The story is being told by “the writer”, whose name isn’t important, until it is. She writes about her housekeeper, Emerence, who is a peculiar figure. She is described by the writer as a true Christian, even though Emerence never cared for religion. A force capable of understanding human nature, whose words can feel like a hug or beating. A being that can attract you or banish you in a second.
The intricate friendship that forms between the two women, the love and respect they have for one another shake me to my core. A love that can be shared only between those with utmost respect for each other, a love that alleviates pain.
I crave such a friendship.
Emerence is truly a beautiful character, hard to understand, but easy to love. It has changed the way I view people. I don’t think I will ever have the courage to dismiss anyone’s behaviour as irrational or weird anymore. People have their way of living, sometimes so different from my own, that I can’t relate to them. I could never imagine friendships springing between people of such different backgrounds and situations, but now I await impatiently the moment I will meet my own Emerence.
The intricate friendship that forms between the two women, the love and respect they have for one another shake me to my core. A love that can be shared only between those with utmost respect for each other, a love that alleviates pain.
I crave such a friendship.
Emerence is truly a beautiful character, hard to understand, but easy to love. It has changed the way I view people. I don’t think I will ever have the courage to dismiss anyone’s behaviour as irrational or weird anymore. People have their way of living, sometimes so different from my own, that I can’t relate to them. I could never imagine friendships springing between people of such different backgrounds and situations, but now I await impatiently the moment I will meet my own Emerence.
thegracexu's review against another edition
3.75
Very strong character portraiture of Emerence and the “unnamed” narrator though I feel like the ending dragged a bit
sminismoni's review against another edition
DNF at 50%. This review will be long, because it has been a long time since I hated a book so much and felt so frustrated as a reader. And no, it wasn’t because of the writing style, which was of a high grade.
I was already a little sceptical when the first chapter revealed that this book was going to trot out the trope of the elderly, solitary eccentric with a mysterious past. This has been done a lot recently (Elegance of the Hedgehog, A Man called Ove, A Gentleman in Moscow), although I concede that this book was first published in 1987 and so might be called a forerunner of this trend. As with those other books, I continued reading as I thought that, despite the curmudgeonly exterior of the housekeeper Emerence, we would perhaps slowly empathise with the diamond in the rough, discovering a vulnerability and a heart of gold underneath. Unfortunately, as the book dragged on and on, there was little sign that this would be the case. In the end I simply could not stand the character of Emerence and had to give up. She is a woman who displays unremitting negativism, a lack of empathy and juvenile narcissism (including tantrums when others protest at the unsolicited gifts or acts of service that she engages in as oblique and inappropriate shows of affection).
Throughout, we are drip-fed aspects of Emerence’s past, which tells of a hard life marked by violence and tragedy in the first half of the Hungarian 20th century. And although this goes some way to explaining Emerence’s compartmentalisation, her affect isolation and tendency to alienate those around her, I felt that it didn’t really justify her attitude or behaviour. The particularly jarring episodes for me were when she mercilessly beat the poor dog (on more than one occasion), and later, during an argument with a neighbour, flippantly told her, “Go kill yourself”. Given that Emerence loves the dog immensely, and values her neighbours too, the author is sending a dangerous message which suggests that abuse can be a form of affection and love.
Added to this was the failed promise of the book that it was to be about a friendship between two women. I have read Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan quartet and loved the hostile-dependent dynamic between those women. Therefore, I didn’t need the relationship between the narrator and her housekeeper to be all warm and fuzzy. The problem was rather, that the character of the narrator was flat and under-developed, and she exists merely as a vehicle for the character study of Emerence. She orbits the stronger, more overt character and unfortunately disappears in the mind of the reader as a real person. Then put in the fact that there is no plot at all, just vignette after vignette, and I just couldn’t go on.
I was already a little sceptical when the first chapter revealed that this book was going to trot out the trope of the elderly, solitary eccentric with a mysterious past. This has been done a lot recently (Elegance of the Hedgehog, A Man called Ove, A Gentleman in Moscow), although I concede that this book was first published in 1987 and so might be called a forerunner of this trend. As with those other books, I continued reading as I thought that, despite the curmudgeonly exterior of the housekeeper Emerence, we would perhaps slowly empathise with the diamond in the rough, discovering a vulnerability and a heart of gold underneath. Unfortunately, as the book dragged on and on, there was little sign that this would be the case. In the end I simply could not stand the character of Emerence and had to give up. She is a woman who displays unremitting negativism, a lack of empathy and juvenile narcissism (including tantrums when others protest at the unsolicited gifts or acts of service that she engages in as oblique and inappropriate shows of affection).
Throughout, we are drip-fed aspects of Emerence’s past, which tells of a hard life marked by violence and tragedy in the first half of the Hungarian 20th century. And although this goes some way to explaining Emerence’s compartmentalisation, her affect isolation and tendency to alienate those around her, I felt that it didn’t really justify her attitude or behaviour. The particularly jarring episodes for me were when she mercilessly beat the poor dog (on more than one occasion), and later, during an argument with a neighbour, flippantly told her, “Go kill yourself”. Given that Emerence loves the dog immensely, and values her neighbours too, the author is sending a dangerous message which suggests that abuse can be a form of affection and love.
Added to this was the failed promise of the book that it was to be about a friendship between two women. I have read Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan quartet and loved the hostile-dependent dynamic between those women. Therefore, I didn’t need the relationship between the narrator and her housekeeper to be all warm and fuzzy. The problem was rather, that the character of the narrator was flat and under-developed, and she exists merely as a vehicle for the character study of Emerence. She orbits the stronger, more overt character and unfortunately disappears in the mind of the reader as a real person. Then put in the fact that there is no plot at all, just vignette after vignette, and I just couldn’t go on.
reyna_reads's review against another edition
5.0
excellent in every way. the relationships feel so real which makes this all the more heartbreaking