A review by bianca89279
Mimi by Lucy Ellmann
5.0
Praised be the goddess of reading and writing for bringing this book to my attention. It's "only" taken half a year for me to get that special kind of giddiness that comes along when I read something that enchants me, surprises and/or delights me. Lucy Ellmann's Mimi is that kind of book. Had I not read and loved Ellmann's epic Ducks, Newsburyport, I probably wouldn't have considered this book. After all, it's not very popular or highly rated. Such a shame because it's on another level. Plot-wise, this is relatively simple. But it's the writing, the tone, the strong female characters that just make this novel a stand-out.
Harrison Hanafan is the narrator of this novel. He's a fifty-year-old, affluent, plastic surgeon. He's a bachelor, who lives in a very nice apartment in the Garment District, New York. He's just gotten out of a five-year relationship with a pretentious, preposterous New York socialite. It's New Year's Eve, he is home alone with a sprained ankle and feels terribly lonely. He's got too much time on his hands, too much thinking going on. His only living relative, his sculptress sister, Bee, lives in England. Their relationship is very warm and loving, although they're very different people.
Unexpectedly, Harrison falls in love with a woman who's not his type. She's a formidable woman, quite the feminist. She's far from perfect physically speaking. She's close to his age, again, not really his type. I was bemused and perplexed by their relationship, if I'm being honest, I thought it was wishful thinking on Ellmann's part, but it's fiction, one can dream, right?
A few lists, music scores, letters, manifestos and other interesting tidbits appear in this novel, especially in the Appendix. Lots of little things and details delighted me. The language is playful and extremely clever. Also, this is an unapologetically feminist novel. In this case, it didn't bother me in the least that it was so obvious and it preached to my convictions, things that bugged me in other novels. I guess the devil is in the detail.
I'm not doing this novel justice with my quickly penned review. I just wanted to proclaim that I loved this novel.
Hats off to Lucy Ellmann.
Harrison Hanafan is the narrator of this novel. He's a fifty-year-old, affluent, plastic surgeon. He's a bachelor, who lives in a very nice apartment in the Garment District, New York. He's just gotten out of a five-year relationship with a pretentious, preposterous New York socialite. It's New Year's Eve, he is home alone with a sprained ankle and feels terribly lonely. He's got too much time on his hands, too much thinking going on. His only living relative, his sculptress sister, Bee, lives in England. Their relationship is very warm and loving, although they're very different people.
Unexpectedly, Harrison falls in love with a woman who's not his type. She's a formidable woman, quite the feminist. She's far from perfect physically speaking. She's close to his age, again, not really his type. I was bemused and perplexed by their relationship, if I'm being honest, I thought it was wishful thinking on Ellmann's part, but it's fiction, one can dream, right?
A few lists, music scores, letters, manifestos and other interesting tidbits appear in this novel, especially in the Appendix. Lots of little things and details delighted me. The language is playful and extremely clever. Also, this is an unapologetically feminist novel. In this case, it didn't bother me in the least that it was so obvious and it preached to my convictions, things that bugged me in other novels. I guess the devil is in the detail.
I'm not doing this novel justice with my quickly penned review. I just wanted to proclaim that I loved this novel.
Hats off to Lucy Ellmann.