Review by molly_appleby - Small Pleasures

dark emotional inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

5.0

oh my god. oh my GOD
absolutely exquisite !! i absolutely adored this style of writing, and am confident in saying that this perfectly exemplifies my ideal book: quiet, slice of life exploration of suburbia with a twist.
resonates with anyone who has ever felt trapped by duty, expectation or responsibility.
really loved the pace of this book !! quite slow but i feel like it very much fit the content / plot of the novel - felt very day to day, measured and controlled.
so many beautiful, witty and insightful one liners ! too many to include all of my bookmarked here haha
some brilliant uses of irony that made me cackle and then feel very sorry for the protagonist
i've read a lot of criticisms of the last chapter and the ending in particular, but i really loved it ?? maybe i just like torturing myself with sad writing but i thought it was incredibly well done, perfectly gut wrenching and a brilliantly shocking ending to such a comfortable, quiet novel.

thoughts whilst reading:

dripping in dutiful domesticity. trapped in suburbia.
quiet, simmering resentment. the universal experience of being happy for someone you love, and yet struggling to supress your jealousy.
wonderfully tender descriptions of mother / daughter relationships. beautifully dysfunctional.
gorgeous exploration of the halting, tentative beginnings of adult friendship.
the small, gentle foreshadowing of the love / tenderness between jean and howard is almost unsettling ??
- it feels so easy and yet passive ? slipping into love, rather than falling ?
howard's words and actions feel ... calculated ? measured ? i really want to like him as he seems like a kind and sensitive soul but sometimes he does feel like a bit of a wet lettuce tehe
interesting how jean and howard are never all that explicit in their affection for eachother ? they seem to silently grow closer as much of their 'courtship' happens whilst howard is unavailable
- nice departure from the usual overwhelming, passionate displays of love and affection usually seen in romance novels
- perhaps a reflection of their ages / maturity / past experiences ?

thoughts post-reading:

interesting that jean is so aware of her own frustrations at being trapped in a quiet domestic life and yet seems so scathing of gretchen's attempt to free herself from a similar situation. jean justifies her judgement of gretchen through her concern for margaret (and howard), but i'm not entirely convinced ??
- just feels quite hypocritical ? although maybe in part it could be because for so much of the novel jean seems determined to deny herself the happiness (with howard) that might improve her own situation.
just when you think jean's self-sacrificing / selfless / meek character is getting a little too ... virtuous ? irritating ? she has a little vicious thought or outburst which i find very satisfying and real-wordly. it always comes just in time to keep me invested in her character and the book as a whole.
awkward and potentially harmful presentation of a lesbian relationship though which i don't love, although i suppose this can be chalked up to a rather conservative narrator and the time setting. i do think it could have been handled better though ?

Content Warnings