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A review by karabeavis
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Maggie/Josie/Holly is the protagonist of this epic tale from 4 yrs of age to 60. Author Jennifer Down said she wanted to explore two things in this novel: foster kids in the out—of—home—care system and a woman who goes missing. Both are written very well particularly the OOHC era.
We meet Holly as a 60–year—old who has a quiet life with friends, a job and her dog in America. I think it’s interesting to start there and look back on the experiences of someone with profound trauma from childhood. Author Down says the book is about survivorship. Such are the tragedies and adversity in Holly’s life that frankly it is amazing that she’s not dead.
This is a tale of starting over, again and again, with a new name, in a new town and with a new relationship/s. Who are we in relation to our trauma? Is it our identity or can we escape it? It’s also about the reliability of trauma—impacted memory, especially when it comes to a police investigation in the middle of the book.
There is a lot tackled here and some of the extra trauma events that happen: the one great foster carer having a stroke, for example, did seem almost too much? There’s also a question of ethics of writing other people’s stories. The novel is fiction but based on true survival stories in the foster care system in Australia in the 70s and 80s. We discussed this at the bookclub. A compelling and ambitious read. Thank you to the author.
We meet Holly as a 60–year—old who has a quiet life with friends, a job and her dog in America. I think it’s interesting to start there and look back on the experiences of someone with profound trauma from childhood. Author Down says the book is about survivorship. Such are the tragedies and adversity in Holly’s life that frankly it is amazing that she’s not dead.
This is a tale of starting over, again and again, with a new name, in a new town and with a new relationship/s. Who are we in relation to our trauma? Is it our identity or can we escape it? It’s also about the reliability of trauma—impacted memory, especially when it comes to a police investigation in the middle of the book.
There is a lot tackled here and some of the extra trauma events that happen: the one great foster carer having a stroke, for example, did seem almost too much? There’s also a question of ethics of writing other people’s stories. The novel is fiction but based on true survival stories in the foster care system in Australia in the 70s and 80s. We discussed this at the bookclub. A compelling and ambitious read. Thank you to the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment