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kjboldon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The narrator has a lot of children, a husband (her third) and is not quite sure what is going on all the time. The voice is distinct and engaging. She's seeing a shrink, the story is told on time out of joint, there's dust floating around and a castle being built of brick and glass in the country. Reminded me of Helen Weinzweig's Basic Black with Pearls, with a little bit of Shirley Jackson.
Graphic: Racism
tailwhip's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Gaslighting
amberjune's review against another edition
Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
welsh_person's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Abortion
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
eliipelii's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
absolutive's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a dark, harrowing and well-controlled short novel. It's an inverted fairy tale in which a woman, her unfaithful fourth husband, and their innumerable children build a tower in the countryside to live a life that has no meaning to any of them. They are starting life together again after an affair, mental illness and a runaway, and it will be a life unhappily ever after again. The book is largely told through therapy sessions, though its opening and closing lines are cleverly telling us that the book is unreliably narrated: "'Well,' I said 'I will try. I honestly will try to be honest with you, although I suppose really what you're more interested in is my not being honest, if you see what I mean.'"
"I have tried to be honest with you, although I suppose that you would really have been more interested in my not being honest. Some of these things happened and some were dreams. They are all true, as I understood truth. They are all real, as I understood reality."
The nihilism in this novel is a welcome antidote to the fairy tale of life that women and girls are told about husbands, children and meaning. In this novel, husband and brood are traps of unhappiness and emptiness, as they are in so much of Penelope Mortimer's fiction. I found this novel more cleverly constructed and literary than Daddy's Gone A-Hunting and Saturday Lunch With the Brownings, but those books were sharper and funnier with more devastating and pitch-perfect dialogue. This book left me sadder and colder, whilst those still laughing and engaged.
"I have tried to be honest with you, although I suppose that you would really have been more interested in my not being honest. Some of these things happened and some were dreams. They are all true, as I understood truth. They are all real, as I understood reality."
The nihilism in this novel is a welcome antidote to the fairy tale of life that women and girls are told about husbands, children and meaning. In this novel, husband and brood are traps of unhappiness and emptiness, as they are in so much of Penelope Mortimer's fiction. I found this novel more cleverly constructed and literary than Daddy's Gone A-Hunting and Saturday Lunch With the Brownings, but those books were sharper and funnier with more devastating and pitch-perfect dialogue. This book left me sadder and colder, whilst those still laughing and engaged.
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion
A racist slur appears without warning and there are two examples of racist idioms.
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