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A review by bookthia
Helpless by Barbara Gowdy
2.0
I have to admit that I found the book to be disappointing. It wasn't bad, but it didn't make me feel anything. The motions in the book were quite subdued, considering the subject matter. The story is about the abduction of a little girl. The reader is gven insights into the world of the suffering mother, and that of the abductor. I guess the author's point is to make you see that there are unknown motives behind everything. I don't theing she wants the reader to "empathize" with the abductor, but she does want the reader to understand the man's motives behind his behaviours. And to understand that he isn't unkind or malicious. As a mother, however, I had a hard time getting past the fact that he had abducted a child. I wanted him punished. And he wasn't -- at least not enough for my satisfaction.
I reviewed the ARC for the Harper Collins First Read program. Here's what I submitted, although they didn't use it. I'm not surprised.
In her latest novel, Gowdy takes on a near-impossible task by challenging readers to find, if not empathy then understanding, for a child abductor. She creates damaged characters with a deft hand so that their altered reality almost seems normal and understandable. What I found particularly effective -- and disturbing -- was the way she portrayed the unforgiving public -- a public who finds it easier to find fault and blame in the suffering mother rather than peer into the dark recesses of a society that produces men who steal children and women too frightened to stop them.
I reviewed the ARC for the Harper Collins First Read program. Here's what I submitted, although they didn't use it. I'm not surprised.
In her latest novel, Gowdy takes on a near-impossible task by challenging readers to find, if not empathy then understanding, for a child abductor. She creates damaged characters with a deft hand so that their altered reality almost seems normal and understandable. What I found particularly effective -- and disturbing -- was the way she portrayed the unforgiving public -- a public who finds it easier to find fault and blame in the suffering mother rather than peer into the dark recesses of a society that produces men who steal children and women too frightened to stop them.