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A review by rachelselene
Marlena by Julie Buntin
4.0
Why do they say ghosts are cold? Mine are warm, a breath dampening your cheek, a voice when you thought you were alone.
i really, really liked this book. i don't often read novels about modern teenage girls, but this one caught my attention because it was set in michigan. i was born in michigan, i live in michigan, i've spent my whole life in michigan - and i've also spent quite a few summers vacationing up north, passing through rural towns very much like silver lake. there was a sense of nostalgia for me in marlena: the snow-heavy winters, the cornfields, the long drives from one small town to the next, even little mentions of landmark sites like the mackinaw bridge and ann arbor (hello, fellow wolverines!). buntin's prose re: the scenery had a lot to do with how much i enjoyed this book. in fact, her prose re: everything was pretty great. was it a bit wordy or "too much" at times? yes. but i kind of like "too much," and i'm always gravitating toward books with flowery and poetic prose. there were some really poignant sentences in this one.
another factor: cat's dad. in so many ways her relationship with him echoed my relationship with my own father, to the point where some of their scenes made my heart ache: how he cut ties with his children, how their closeness during cat's childhood faded into vague memories with time, how he emotionally and physically abused his wife (pretending not to hear when she spoke? check. deliberately shoving her and watching her slam over a piece of machinery? check. for cat's mom it was the stairmaster; for my mom it was the open dishwasher.) i did not expect to form such an emotional connection to this book, but there it is.
admittedly, it took me a bit of time to get into this story. i moved through the first third at the pace of a snail, but my interest peaked around page 100 and i got through the rest quickly. there are a lot of questions left unanswered here, but it works. life is messy; that's something that cat, as an adult, is trying to reconcile herself with as she narrates her time in silver lake. it's complicated and unpredictable and most of the time we don't get any answers.
"Tu es mon diamant," Marlena told Sal, when he finished all of his food. "Je t'aime beaucoup." How strange to hear those swinging vowels--all city lights and crusty loaves of bread and blue shutters and expensive perfume--in that place, with its cement floor, with its bone chill and empty cabinets.
i really, really liked this book. i don't often read novels about modern teenage girls, but this one caught my attention because it was set in michigan. i was born in michigan, i live in michigan, i've spent my whole life in michigan - and i've also spent quite a few summers vacationing up north, passing through rural towns very much like silver lake. there was a sense of nostalgia for me in marlena: the snow-heavy winters, the cornfields, the long drives from one small town to the next, even little mentions of landmark sites like the mackinaw bridge and ann arbor (hello, fellow wolverines!). buntin's prose re: the scenery had a lot to do with how much i enjoyed this book. in fact, her prose re: everything was pretty great. was it a bit wordy or "too much" at times? yes. but i kind of like "too much," and i'm always gravitating toward books with flowery and poetic prose. there were some really poignant sentences in this one.
another factor: cat's dad. in so many ways her relationship with him echoed my relationship with my own father, to the point where some of their scenes made my heart ache: how he cut ties with his children, how their closeness during cat's childhood faded into vague memories with time, how he emotionally and physically abused his wife (pretending not to hear when she spoke? check. deliberately shoving her and watching her slam over a piece of machinery? check. for cat's mom it was the stairmaster; for my mom it was the open dishwasher.) i did not expect to form such an emotional connection to this book, but there it is.
admittedly, it took me a bit of time to get into this story. i moved through the first third at the pace of a snail, but my interest peaked around page 100 and i got through the rest quickly. there are a lot of questions left unanswered here, but it works. life is messy; that's something that cat, as an adult, is trying to reconcile herself with as she narrates her time in silver lake. it's complicated and unpredictable and most of the time we don't get any answers.
"Tu es mon diamant," Marlena told Sal, when he finished all of his food. "Je t'aime beaucoup." How strange to hear those swinging vowels--all city lights and crusty loaves of bread and blue shutters and expensive perfume--in that place, with its cement floor, with its bone chill and empty cabinets.