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A review by karaklos
Meredith, Alone by Claire Alexander
4.0
3.5 stars
Meredith, Alone is the unique story of a woman who is so traumatized by horrible life events that she does not leave her house for over three years. The book alternates between her younger years and present life. The dual timeline is done well with her younger years as flashbacks that pop into her head as non-linear memories.
When I started the book, I was getting an Eleanor Oliphant vibe but as the story went on I realized it was quite different and a story worth telling.
Meredith’s character is drawn well. I found myself empathizing with the hardships she’s been through and how stuck she was. Despite the darkness of her backstory, Alexander did a nice job of making a very difficult topic be very readable and digestible. While the difficult events were not described fully, I appreciated it because I could not stomach them. I only wondered if we didn’t hear about things because Meredith was in denial of them or if it was just a storyline tactic. Meredith’s voice was a bit too quiet at times.
Meredith’s friends were an amazing cast of characters and portrayed what is possible if someone has the proper support network. I did at times expect more bad things to happen to Meredith and was happy that this did not happen but also happy that she didn’t move on fully either. It felt like a very realistic conclusion.
Meredith, Alone is the unique story of a woman who is so traumatized by horrible life events that she does not leave her house for over three years. The book alternates between her younger years and present life. The dual timeline is done well with her younger years as flashbacks that pop into her head as non-linear memories.
When I started the book, I was getting an Eleanor Oliphant vibe but as the story went on I realized it was quite different and a story worth telling.
Meredith’s character is drawn well. I found myself empathizing with the hardships she’s been through and how stuck she was. Despite the darkness of her backstory, Alexander did a nice job of making a very difficult topic be very readable and digestible. While the difficult events were not described fully, I appreciated it because I could not stomach them. I only wondered if we didn’t hear about things because Meredith was in denial of them or if it was just a storyline tactic. Meredith’s voice was a bit too quiet at times.
Meredith’s friends were an amazing cast of characters and portrayed what is possible if someone has the proper support network. I did at times expect more bad things to happen to Meredith and was happy that this did not happen but also happy that she didn’t move on fully either. It felt like a very realistic conclusion.