#20BooksofSummer ends today and I’m way behind with my reviews. So, some quick ones to catch up.
Sorocidial by Edwina Prescott
Absolutely loved the themes in this saga about two sisters – ego, narcissism, control and attachment. The first half, focused on the childhood of the sisters was gripping – Prescott gives the story a light gothic touch and I read with a constant sense of foreboding. However, that level of tension is difficult to maintain and somehow, by the end, the sisters’ relationship was less threatening and a bit tiring. Hang in there though, for when one sister buys the other ‘the perfect gift’ – memorable.
3/5
Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford
This is a curious story about a group of young cousins at a family event. One goes missing and the others set out to find her. The premise is simple, and Bamford furnishes it with some excellent characters, evocative details and a fab family backstory. The sense of place is outstanding. The sense of time, hard to put your finger on, which adds to the magic (as I was reading, I was remembering the freedom of social occasions where the gaggle of kids is left to their own devices – thrilling!). The story takes a slightly weird, ‘magical’ turn at the end which I didn’t care for (although not sure how the book could have finished differently). That said, I will read more from this author in the future.
3/5
Whistler by Ann Patchett
Will I ever enjoy another Patchett as much as I did Commonwealth and The Dutch House? I fear not… I go into each new book with high expectations, and although Whistler charmed me in many ways (I loved the quiet introspection, the interesting approach to forgiveness, and that this is essentially a mother-daughter story despite seeming to be about a woman and her step-father), there was one element that I couldn’t quite get onboard with – how quickly, and warmly, the main characters reconnected. Would that have happened? I wasn’t completely convinced.
3.5/5
Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters by Laura Thompson
A meticulous account of the lives of the Mitford sisters, heavy on historical detail and full of anecdotes and bon mots – it would seem that Nancy would not have to have looked far for inspiration for her novels. Thompson has adopted Nancy’s sharp, witty tone (and managed to sustain it for 500+ pages), although kerbed it for the sections about WWII and Unity’s relationship with Hitler. I remain a fan of Nancy’s novels, but might read through a slightly different lens in the future.
3/5
Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry
This book probably deserves a lengthier review, because I suspect I’m in the minority of not loving every element. Anyway… I think the thing that I found tricky was Perry’s generous and beautiful take on caring for her father-in-law. I have no doubt that it happened exactly as she described it (including her sudden and inexplicable switch to calling him ‘sweetheart’ when she’d previously called him David). I have no doubt that she found some inner strength, some instinct, some inner voice guiding her to care for the dying. But, she did it for nine days. And I wonder what would have happened if she was caring for someone for nine years. I really want to stress that I am not criticising Perry’s experience, but I spent most of the book thinking about my counselling clients (who are all carers), and how they would find Perry’s experience.
2.5/5
Mother of Pearl by Angela Savage
Surrogacy is a minefield. There are risks for everyone involved, and everyone involved has very different reasons for undertaking it. This is a considered, thoughtful fictional account of an Australian couple who use a surrogate in Thailand. The whole time I was reading I had a terrible real-life story in mind, but thankfully, Savage’s novel is not so brutal. Instead, an interesting look at surrogacy from multiple angles, with spiritual stories from Thai culture woven in.
3/5
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I really didn’t like / believe Death of an Ordinary Man. I looked after my mum for 12 years, never got a minute’s help from anyone official. The Christian night-sitter with no credentials, I found creepy and felt that he had probably hastened David’s passage to “the sweet arms of Jesus”. Sorry, still cross about it !
Oh, don’t be sorry! Your misgivings mirror mine.
I was prepared to shelve the religious elements (I have no religious beliefs – spiritual, yes, but formal religious? No.) I really, really struggled with the fact that nine days is not taxing. She would have hardly had any interaction with services, with time spent ‘on-hold’ on the phone, with decisions about end-of-life care; with interactions with family and friends who have opinions about care… As I said, I really don’t want to discount her experience, however, my feeling is that she is in the rare 1%…. the other 99% are you, and the people I work with.
I know this book has garnered much praise but it is not one that I will be championing, despite a handful of lovely passages (and her accurate observation that death has become ‘undomesticated’ i.e. out of the home – I am all for palliative care in the home for those that choose it – emphasis on choice).
Does that mean you weren’t a Tom Lake fan? I loved that one and The Dutch House best of Patchett’s books. I have been slowly working my way down the pile to Whistler and looking forward to it, so I hope I like it a little better than you did.
I have read a couple of bios of the Mitfords only to realize that they were biased in one way or the other, usually being written by a member of the family on one side of that huge political divide. I find the idea that a family could produce such incredibly different offspring fascinating, so I will look for this bio.
I didn’t love Tom Lake… I really tried because others raved about it but it is at the bottom of my Patchett list.
I loved it, but maybe I am biased because of being from Michigan.
Interesting comment about Death of an Ordinary Man. I hadn’t realised it covered quite such a short time which, as you say, is not to detract from her experience but it can’t compare with the frustrations and utter fatigue of long time care many of us will have witnessed or experienced.
I almost felt it was a dangerous book, given it touches such a difficult subject. Depending on a person’s circumstances when reading it or their motive in choosing that book at that moment, it could give a very false impression of what might happen. As we know, every end-of-life is different, there is no handbook, every family’s dynamic and finances are different, and certainly no road map for how health and social services might interact with you. It is regrettably still a battle to have one’s rights as a carer or close relative taken into account – and having POA, don’t make me laugh, Maybe SP didn’t have a great time and chose to write a fantasy version of what happened !
Yes, I can see it might well be a very painful read. My recently bereaved aunt who cared for my uncle through Parkinson’s and cancer had a tough time with getting the help he needed. I’m sure her experience is reasonably typical here in the UK, and she knew her way round the health system thanks to her work.
I agree. I have heard hundreds of end-of-life stories over many years working with carers – no two stories are the same, but rarely are the stories as straightforward, short and as clean-cut as Perry’s.
The other aspect of the book that I had trouble with was Perry’s absolute clarity about knowing what had to be done in the face of death (and she talked about this at the Edinburgh Book Festival as well). Others reading it may feel pressure to perform in the same way – it’s great for Perry and her family that they identified that David was at end-of-life; and that they knew what David wanted, or choices he would make, however, people are usually confused and stressed in these circumstances, and often have not had discussions about end-of-life choices.
I agree with Perry that we live in a ‘death-denying’ culture, however, in the face of it, we are not suddenly awarded some wisdom of knowing how to cope with it (this is different to the body knowing how to die) – she spoke of this like it was some innate female knowledge.
Again, I don’t want to challenge Perry’s experience but I do think it is important to highlight that every death is different, and I don’t think she emphasized that enough in this book.
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