A review by nicoleabouttown
Dear Miss Metropolitan by Carolyn Ferrell
5.0
When I first started listening to Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell, I almost gave up on finishing the book. I knew what the story was supposed to be about, but I wasn't getting it for the first few chapters. Nonetheless, I stuck with it and soon came upon an 'ah ha' moment where everything suddenly became clear. What I was listening to, is the introduction to the three different girls who have been kidnapped, raped, tortured, and held against their will for an extensive time. What I was listening to is a bit of background on them, their lives before their kidnapping, and how they went missing. Their stories and lives before their captivity are heartbreaking; their stories and lives during their captivity are excruciating; their stories after their captivity are devastating.
As much as Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell is a book about the three girls, Fern, Gwen, and Jessenia, it is also a book about the neighbourhood that didn't know they were being held in that house for years. How could they not know? It seems far-fetched, but at the same time, it's not as far-fetched as you would think. Ariel Castro kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus in 2002 & 2004 and they weren't found until 2013. Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 by Phillip Garrido and remained missing until 2009. Jeffrey Dahmer killed and dismembered several people in the 1990s in his apartment and no one was the wiser, even with the horrible smell. So this kind of stuff happens; we look the other way and justify it by calling it minding our own business.
Now I had the audiobook version of Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell and it was narrated by Bahini Turpin. She did an admirable job of telling the story and communicating the emotion of the various characters. In the audiobook, the chapters don't announce which character is narrating, so it takes a while to realize who is speaking each chapter. I'm not sure if it is different in the physical book, but I hope so as the story would make sense that way, and you wouldn't have such a hard time adjusting each chapter. The audiobook runs for 10 hours, so it is not that long and can be completed in a few days. I quite enjoyed Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell. It was at times heartbreaking, and upsetting, but oh so good.
As much as Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell is a book about the three girls, Fern, Gwen, and Jessenia, it is also a book about the neighbourhood that didn't know they were being held in that house for years. How could they not know? It seems far-fetched, but at the same time, it's not as far-fetched as you would think. Ariel Castro kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus in 2002 & 2004 and they weren't found until 2013. Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in 1991 by Phillip Garrido and remained missing until 2009. Jeffrey Dahmer killed and dismembered several people in the 1990s in his apartment and no one was the wiser, even with the horrible smell. So this kind of stuff happens; we look the other way and justify it by calling it minding our own business.
Now I had the audiobook version of Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell and it was narrated by Bahini Turpin. She did an admirable job of telling the story and communicating the emotion of the various characters. In the audiobook, the chapters don't announce which character is narrating, so it takes a while to realize who is speaking each chapter. I'm not sure if it is different in the physical book, but I hope so as the story would make sense that way, and you wouldn't have such a hard time adjusting each chapter. The audiobook runs for 10 hours, so it is not that long and can be completed in a few days. I quite enjoyed Dear Miss Metropolitan: A Novel by Carolyn Ferrell. It was at times heartbreaking, and upsetting, but oh so good.