This is a tell all in the classic sense of the word. The point of this book is to tell you shocking insider stories. It's at its best when it gets to This is a tell all in the classic sense of the word. The point of this book is to tell you shocking insider stories. It's at its best when it gets to business. But it is technically a memoir, which has a different goal than a tell all. And the two books here trying to co-exist are sometimes at odds. Wynn-Williams' personal life can feel like a distraction when we all know that we're here to talk about Facebook.
There are certainly an abundance of crazy stories and even if only half of them are only half true, and even if you already detest Facebook and everything it stands for, there's plenty here to bring your opinion of Zuckerberg and Sandberg to a new low. It's one thing to detest them generally, but now you can detest them very specifically!
What is so strange about reading this book is just how bad it is. So bad that I never could figure out why Wynn-Williams hadn't quit. (She reminds us eventually that her immigration status requires her to have employment, which is a very fair point, but she never seems to spend much time at all actually getting any other job.) I thought this would be a slowly getting worse situation. But instead it is pretty terrible pretty quickly. I would have quit this job at Chapter 7. And I think 95% of people would also have quit their job at Chapter 7 when your boss demands that you go to a country in the middle of a massive political crisis being run by a military junta and says you can't come back until you've made them change a law forbidding you from being there. That this is merely the first insane thing and there are many more to come is hard to swallow. But we see as time goes on that Wynn-Williams is willing to do a whole lot of stuff at great personal sacrifice for the larger goal of... something. It's not totally clear what. She is not your average go-getter, this is some real toxic attachment to your work stuff.
Her focus is almost entirely on international relations and public policy. I thought this might make the book not that much of a useful look inside the company. But actually you can make the argument this is the most important work that was happening at Facebook in the 2010's. And that what we see here is a shift from a technology company to a global force.
Wynn-Williams is a perfectly competent reader if you want to do audio. That way you get her New Zealand accent, too. ...more
We live in a world that does not know what to do with Claire Lombardo books. After I read and adored her second novel, I wondered how I had missed theWe live in a world that does not know what to do with Claire Lombardo books. After I read and adored her second novel, I wondered how I had missed the first. And then I saw that cover and realized, Ah, right, I had thought it was a totally different kind of book and it was a fair conclusion based on the title, the cover, the summary, the everything. And if you really boil this book down then I suppose the title, the cover, the everything all fits. It isn't wrong, it just isn't right. Because this is not a cute little book. Lombardo writes Novels with a capital N. Big, meaty stories. And yes, they are about families, but they are filled with so much emotional richness that they more than earn their very long page count.
Lombardo got better with her second novel, moving backwards means this is a little bit of a step down. But I also got to see how she got better. I despised most of these characters, just could not stand them and often yelled at them. There is a pretty gloss on a lot of things here, just the most bare bones acknowledgement of privilege that rubbed me wrong many times. And it's more wrapped up with a nice little bow. But I was still addicted to this book, I wanted to be in it even when the characters in it were driving me up the wall. (I could go on and on about how much I did not like these four daughters. Especially Violet. How incredibly selfish and awful they are to a kid who has nothing when they have everything, and how they just keep acting that way over and over again. But I won't.)
What I really loved here was the way, once again, Lombardo opens up this family to you. The most effective arc is around Marilyn and David, as we keep flashing back to see them through the years as the family grows and changes. What's so interesting to me is that we start with the idea that Marilyn and David have a basically perfect marriage, that they are deeply in love after decades together. In fact, the most interesting arc for each of the daughters is how they struggle in the shadow of that, feeling that their parents' relationship is something they could never achieve themselves. But instead of pulling back the curtain to some big reveal where actually we see that Marilyn and David don't have the relationship we think (which is what 99,999 out of 100,000 stories do), instead we just get to see that yeah they have it pretty good. We see their wobbles and struggles, and then we see them move past them and keep moving forward. They are better partners than they are parents (big time, like please just parent your children effectively please lol) and they recognize that they just got really lucky that they happened to find each other. It isn't that they are the best people but together they have something singular. And it was strange and wonderful to get to see something that is just good.
I also love the breadth and depth of Lombardo's novels, really earning their length. There are a lot of things happening, it feels like real life, there are not expected beats but all kinds of ups and downs and twists and turns. You can't really apply an act structure. (You can even ignore Grace for what seemed like half the book, and yet when she's back we once again care!)
Her dialogue is great, her people feel like people. The characters are distinct. The real weakness is Jonah, who always functions as a device rather than a person. Being able to move through the Sorensen family without any real signs of deep trauma always left me feeling a little suspicious, would have liked to see Lombardo tweak the details here a little either around Jonah's background or his actions so that he felt real, but you can't deny the effectiveness of the device. (All my yelling about it shows that.)
Now that I've discovered Lombardo I'm mostly disappointed that now I am already done with just two novels and I'll likely have a few years to wait before the next one.
Also worth noting that the audio of both these novels is excellent, the reader really gets Lombardo's rhythms and creates distinct feelings and voices without being over the top....more
2.5 stars. I thought Hawkins' two most recent novels got better and better so I figured I should go back to grab the one of hers that I missed. Except2.5 stars. I thought Hawkins' two most recent novels got better and better so I figured I should go back to grab the one of hers that I missed. Except turns out it's the weakest by a good stretch. I see signs of something interesting here, but it doesn't come together at all. The rift between the two sisters at the center of the story is the foundation it's all built on and when we finally get the details it isn't strong enough to build on and undercuts a lot of what we've already read. And that repeats itself several times. All the truths that come out don't feel true, the characters get more murky instead of more clear. Definitely one to skip if suicide isn't a topic you can stomach because it's everywhere....more
Very likely my favorite book of the year. This was everything I want a book to be. A deep dive into characters, a story with real emotional heft, and Very likely my favorite book of the year. This was everything I want a book to be. A deep dive into characters, a story with real emotional heft, and a narrative brimming with plot. I never wanted to stop reading it. I cried a few times. I missed these characters when it was over. A++
It's funny because I know I have written a lot of reviews where I say things like "We don't really need more queer coming out narratives" and sometimes I approach books about coming out with skepticism. Do they actually have something interesting to say? Why tell this story when so many queer narratives are coming out stories? But there is always the exception that proves the rule, books that happen to be about coming out but that crack open into a much bigger story. And this is absolutely one of those. Especially because St. James smartly starts us when Erica is already out to herself. It is not self-determination that we are considering here, but the complexities of coming out late in life, especially when you are in a situation like Erica's--a high school teacher in a rural community where just coming out will possibly mean that you lose your job, your connections, everything. Especially when Erica has just blown up her life a few times already, she has to wonder if it is worth yet another reset.
Erica really tugged at my heart, but Abigail is what gives the book so much personality. Erica's sections are in 3rd person, but Abigail speaks to us directly, well aware that she has an audience watching her every move. Abigail is snarky and stubborn and contrary, she is going to put a wrench in the works any time she possibly can. She is deeply a teenager, and this generational divide between Abigail and Erica is part of what keeps the story interesting, what gives us all sorts of new plot twists, and what builds such a full narrative. It's also great to get to see the queer generational divide, how both sides see each other and misunderstand each other. And with trans stories in particular, this divide is striking. Abigail isn't the first teenager to transition, but she is one of the first who can socially transition at school and everyone knows about it and accepts it and uses the correct pronouns for her. She is one of the first to grow up with the understanding that trans people exist, with a set of steps to take. For Erica, this looks like strength and confidence. But the more we get to know Abigail the more we see that she has just as much inner struggle as Erica does, just in different ways.
This book is about so much more than trans-ness or queer identity. It's about putting on a play. It's about still being in love with your ex. It's about finding friends and how sometimes you click with someone even when it makes no sense. It's about politics and a small-town election. And it takes place in the fall of 2016, when we all know how things are about to change.
It is a really hopeful book. Even though it has this generational divide at its center, it also wants to show us how everything is cyclical. How woodworking--a term that describes how a trans person who can pass as cis will keep their trans identity a secret from everyone in their life, so they blend into the woodwork--is a desire that trans people had in the past for their own safety and that trans people can still have now to avoid the work of having to be trans and represent the trans community and be the vessel for both positive and negative attitudes towards the whole question of gender.
I listened to this on audio, which I really recommend. I love that there were trans readers for these characters, who really embodied them fully....more
4.5 stars. Adored this. Apparently this book came out two years ago but I only heard about it last year. Regardless, I'm so glad I found my way to it 4.5 stars. Adored this. Apparently this book came out two years ago but I only heard about it last year. Regardless, I'm so glad I found my way to it and then back to it after putting it down initially. The length is daunting, I decided to read it on audio and this was a great decision.
Such a sneaky book, it really wormed its way into my heart so slowly. It does what it says it's going to do, gets into the heart of one particular dysfunctional family, but the way it opens up took me by surprise. After starting the book following teenage Cass and tween PJ, I thought I had a pretty good handle on this family. And then the section following mother Imelda just broke me wide open, showed me just how much I didn't know, all the intricacies under the surface that the children never see. And how much it went beyond just not understanding details of your parents' lives. And then when we got to father Dickie, I at least knew that this book would probably once again open up this character but this time I thought I was prepared, thought I probably had an idea of who he was. And once again just a heartbreaker. Followed by a finale with like five more heartbreakers.
Just the way Murray opens up these characters, shows you the surface, then what's beneath, then takes us back to all of their interactions where we can see all of it--what they show, what they hide--I can't remember the last time I saw switching characters used this effecitvely in a novel. It has started to feel like just a trick domestic thrillers use but here Murray gives a masterclass.
Feels like the kind of book you could recommend to all kinds of readers, you just have to make space for its high page count. And believe me I get that that isn't always a small ask. But this book really paid off, enjoyed it just immensely. Made me believe in what the novel is capable of....more
A short one, but very enjoyable. That idea that a memoir is just a person telling you a story about themselves is thrown around a lot, but listening tA short one, but very enjoyable. That idea that a memoir is just a person telling you a story about themselves is thrown around a lot, but listening to Blei that is really what it feels like. Having her as a reader makes her feel like a friend by the end. Quite a compliment. This is funny and poignant, would have liked a little more of what happens after she realizes she's gone about this all the wrong way....more
This is probably closer to a 4-star book objectively. When and how I read it (sporadically, on audio) wasn't a good choice and did the material a realThis is probably closer to a 4-star book objectively. When and how I read it (sporadically, on audio) wasn't a good choice and did the material a real disservice. It has a very loose structure and it's definitely not a traditional plot-driven narrative, which are also things that can make it hard for me to connect with a book. But despite all that I did connect with this. I think it's a really fascinating book and I don't know how it's flying under the radar so much that I just now heard about it a few years after publication.
Red X is a queer horror novel that addresses directly late 20th century gay life, not just the AIDS crisis, but the way this marginalized community was incredibly vulnerable. People disappeared. Maybe they got sick, maybe they were killed, maybe they simply decided to go somewhere else. Who knew? It's an effective setting and Demchuk brings it vividly to life.
I liked the book a little less as we moved forward in time, as we seemed to jump around more to new characters. I am the kind of reader who would have liked a more focused story on this initial batch of characters, but that is definitely a personal preference.
I really enjoyed how Demchuk included his own autobiographical sections (in the audiobook, the author reads them himself), it helps you see why he is interested in this story and how threads of his own life get pulled into the fictional narrative.
This is, ultimately, a mix of urban horror and folk horror, an interesting mashup. Very firm sense of place in Toronto's gay village. ...more
I put down Hollinghurst's previous novel, and at first I put this one down, too. The historical coming-of-age novel of a gay, British man felt like soI put down Hollinghurst's previous novel, and at first I put this one down, too. The historical coming-of-age novel of a gay, British man felt like something I'd already seen Hollinghurst do before. But I picked this one back up on audio and was happy I did. Because we are lucky to get these novels, even if they do tend to fall into the same category in many ways. It's always good to have a good novel and this one is good in the kind of way that it's hard to find any fault with it at all. It manages to cover more than 50 years of British life, how one becomes an artist, the clash of the political and the personal, and show us multiple versions of gay life.
While the book is framed by David's interactions with Giles Hadlow, a bully from wealthy, liberal parents who grows up to become a Brexiteering imbecile, Giles is much more background than foreground. A way for us to mark time and see how the world changes. (We mostly skip the Thatcher years.) What I found much more absorbing was David's relationship with his mother, not only a single white woman raising a biracial child, but a queer woman who manages to build a life of her own. David is aware of his own sexual identity even while he remains oblivious to his mother's, and the book lets us see and imagine her while also keeping us limited to David's perspective.
Just a Very Good novel, one I listened to on audio (Very Good reader as well) and was always happy to come back to. Which certainly isn't always the case with a 500-ish page story that isn't heavy on traditional plot. Was a real joy to finish the year with it and a reminder to come back to books that require a little patience.
Cheating and putting this on my Best of 2024 list since I mostly listened to it that year....more
I'm currently looking at my computer screen, staring at the stars above the little review box here on goodreads dot com, wondering how on earth I shouI'm currently looking at my computer screen, staring at the stars above the little review box here on goodreads dot com, wondering how on earth I should rate this book. (Reader, you already know the answer, but for me it's a mystery I hope to figure out by the time I finish writing this review.) Because I think Alderton has done what she set out to do, I think she's executed it quite successfully. It's just that I don't think what she wants to do is worth doing. I refuse the entire premise.
For a little while I thought maybe this was a romcom (I went in totally cold, I have not read any of Alderton's other work and know of her only vaguely) but after a bit I realized that we were doing something more interesting. Oh boy! Hooray! A legit character study. And as we followed Andy I was really up for it. Yes, yes, I thought, let us see just how ridiculous these straight men are about love. It was so clear to me how Andy exemplified so much of what is wrong with the whole lot of them.
He obsesses over Jen. He thinks of her constantly. And yet, after a few hundred pages of this we know almost nothing about her. Who is she? What is so interesting about her? He likes having a girlfriend, this is quite clear, Andy is a serial monogamist without question. There are little anecdotes so bland and basic that they could be any couple of about the same age.
The more we see Andy the more I wondered, why on earth did Jen stay with this guy? It is hard to figure out what Andy has to offer. Sure, he's got some general good qualities, but he doesn't seem to have anything interesting to say. He has no hobbies. He doesn't really DO anything. He's a blandly nice guy, basically, though not a level of nice that would merit the word "kind." How is this man interesting enough to keep around for 4 years?
And as we went along I really appreciated what Alderton was doing, really breaking down how shallow this kind of man is and how limited his view is of this woman he claims to love so deeply. How his months-long breakdown is about a fictional woman he has invented in his head, it's about his own need for someone else to manage his life, it is about not having to do anything to take care of himself or work on his own feelings. And then.
And then I started to worry.
Is this what Alderton is doing? I wondered. At first I was so confident but as time passed I worried. Andy didn't seem to be improving, Were we going to get a chance to see him figure himself out? What would the point of all this be? Why did it feel like we were starting to veer more into cute eccentric and possibly twee territory? Because it was a takedown of Andy, right? Right??
No, friends, it is not. Although it is absolutely possible to read it this way until nearly the end. At the end of the book we have a shift in the narrative which does not do anything useful unless you have not been paying attention. Or unless you've found Andy charming in a failure-to-launch kind of way. If you like Andy and think he's a good guy then the end will give you a new look at him and allow you to see how he has Grown and Changed. But if you think Andy is a pretty terrible boyfriend and that you wouldn't want any friend of yours to date him, then the end is a real bummer. Because the end thinks Andy is actually really a great guy and that he has done the work to be better the way you should during a breakup. And I am sorry but I disagree. Andy has not done the work. He has merely waited it out to the point where the grief no longer feels overwhelming. Remembering that it is also hard to dump someone is not a significant insight, it is a very simple act of considering anyone else's circumstances but your own. You cannot just (view spoiler)[write new material about your breakup for your standup comedy (hide spoiler)] and be like Wow look at how mature and emotionally developed I am. Because I absolutely Do Not Believe that Andy would do a good job! It wouldn't be interesting or funny or anything.
Nothing about the end of this book worked for me. Instead I realized that Alderton and I had been on drastically different pages.
And I suppose I do need to give her credit because she did the thing she wanted to do. She really gets us into Andy's head and shows us the world of a breakup from his point of view. It just requires you to think that Andy is lovable. And I disagree. I think women deserve better than the Andy's of the world! And I think Alderton and Jen and everyone else over 30 is old enough to know.
Where are we ending up star-wise? Ugh I still don't know. I suppose my first rule of reviewing is to use my experience, to be as subjective as I want to be. So here we are, I think that forces me to go 2, even though I feel like I am being a little mean. I may not like Andy at all but I don't think Alderton as a writer is unlovable....more
I enjoyed this but I just want to note that everyone is calling this a "thriller" and it is not! There was about 100 pages where I was very tense and I enjoyed this but I just want to note that everyone is calling this a "thriller" and it is not! There was about 100 pages where I was very tense and very involved, but most of the book was not like that. Do not go in expecting to be frantically turning pages.
My big issue is actually all of the long leadup to Challenger, everything before those very tense pages as we got close to launch. There is a lot of material to cover. The history of the space program, the specifics of the engineering to make the shuttle, the inner workings of NASA, and the thousands of people along the way. I never felt like I was being pulled through a real narrative until we were close to launch. We hopped in and out of personal anecdotes, no person on the page stays around long enough to become a person you feel like you know. This isn't really Higginbotham's fault, the scope of the story he is trying to tell is massive. But I wanted to feel more like I was being directed through the story, like he had found me a narrative path, and I didn't feel that way. Maybe that's impossible with this much ground to cover.
The details of the launch, from the leadup to the investigation, are different. We really get to dive in in such a way that I finally felt satisfied. If anything I was just frustrated that this was the first time we got to really see how the decisionmaking processes worked, that there was not a clear enough contrast between how NASA said it should operate and how it actually operated. But this section is quite thorough, and absolutely devastating. Just the kind of book where you are constantly saying things out loud because it's so sad and awful and you can't believe people are behaving this way.
I am not sure there is a better way to present all this material, and this should satisfy most readers who want to feel like they really understand the disaster. I'm one of the kids who watched the Challenger disaster on television in my 1st grade classroom, and while it imprinted on me (one of my first memories!) my knowledge of it has grown very fuzzy and I appreciated the ability to correct a lot of my mis-rememberings....more
My 3 star review of this is ENTIRELY the fault of the circumstances in which I read it. Specifically that I did it on audio, which I don't recommend! My 3 star review of this is ENTIRELY the fault of the circumstances in which I read it. Specifically that I did it on audio, which I don't recommend! It's not that it's bad, it's fine (nothing amazing, but nothing terrible) but that I don't think a puzzle mystery is suited to audio. You can't miss any details, you need to pay close attention, and you want to be able to slow down and even flip back to previous parts. Not only did I listen, but I listened while traveling, meaning I was often distracted and had to rewind over and over again.
It was a bummer because, I realized at the end of this book, this is basically a YA Westing Game. It is very rare to find a book that actually has Westing Game vibes and that is as committed to them as this book is while also being able to tweak and revamp and modernize and create something that is fulfilling on its own. I would love to have read this in print and enjoy its playful absurdity, its world building, its over the top characters the way I think they should be.
There are not enough puzzle mysteries. Every new one is worth celebrating. And this one, despite the bits I missed, seemed like a really solid one....more
A lot I already knew but it's so helpful for Montell to organize this into specific ways of talking and thinking so it's easier to identify exactly whA lot I already knew but it's so helpful for Montell to organize this into specific ways of talking and thinking so it's easier to identify exactly what is happening. Also like how she expands into other systems to consider where the lines are. A book where you don't have to learn anything new to get something out of it....more
Have only read one other Sager and he's remained so popular I figured I would at least try and see if he had gotten better. I tried his most popular bHave only read one other Sager and he's remained so popular I figured I would at least try and see if he had gotten better. I tried his most popular book. And nope, it was pretty awful. Predictable plot twists, when the plot even made sense. No interesting characters. Just nothing worth sticking around for....more
3.5 stars. Took me a while to see what this book was doing, and when I did I liked it a lot more. But it also seemed to lose speed a little at that po3.5 stars. Took me a while to see what this book was doing, and when I did I liked it a lot more. But it also seemed to lose speed a little at that point. I cared less about slasher lore and more about the questions about identity and fate and loyalty, which never quite moved to the center the way I would have liked.
The audiobook is quite solid, although the reader sometimes forgets about his Texas accent. ...more
3.5 stars. This is beautifully plotted. A real chef's kiss of a plot where none of the dramas and difficulties are manufactured or fake. This isn't a 3.5 stars. This is beautifully plotted. A real chef's kiss of a plot where none of the dramas and difficulties are manufactured or fake. This isn't a book where a character convinces themselves they can't tell anyone something for stupid reasons. I truly loved it for that, it created a situation full of betrayals and secrets that felt completely organic and where characters responded in ways that never felt artificial or manipulative.
But something about this just never quite clicked for me and I have no idea what! As much as I loved the plot I kept finding things I didn't like all along the way, it was odd. The best I can figure is that I never really, really believed the central friendship between Rachel and James. It is the core of the story and it never came alive to me. James as a character felt flat, whereas Carey fills out into a person.
I appreciated how these broke 20somethings were actually broke. This is often something books insist upon but the characters rarely behave like broke people. O'Donoghue wants to make you feel the realities of the recession and of the struggle for reproductive rights and she's very successful at both of these.
It definitely takes some time to get where it's going. And while I understand why people compare to Sally Rooney I never thought that while reading it. (They're both Irish, they're writing about characters around the same age, but I don't think the books operate on similar wavelengths at all.)
I will say I did this on audio, as I try to do with Irish fiction, and it was beautifully read. ...more
It has been a long time since I read Ta-Nehisi Coates but almost right away I thought, "Oh yes, I forgot how good he is at this." And he is.
I truly aIt has been a long time since I read Ta-Nehisi Coates but almost right away I thought, "Oh yes, I forgot how good he is at this." And he is.
I truly appreciate his willingness to consider his own flaws and weaknesses, both in his earlier work and in his ongoing efforts to understand the world. There is a lot of willingness here to say "I was wrong and I'm sorry," which was very striking as I can't remember the last time I heard a writer say something like it with as much sincerity....more
The setup and starting concept was great. I didn't love the execution and I was actively annoyed by the end. Just a few too many twists when I would hThe setup and starting concept was great. I didn't love the execution and I was actively annoyed by the end. Just a few too many twists when I would have liked a slow burn where we get to live in the conflict between these two women a lot more. That was much more interesting than the many other twists and turns....more
Rounding up a bit on this one. It's a very different approach for Moriarty in a lot of ways, though it does have a large cast of characters and shiftiRounding up a bit on this one. It's a very different approach for Moriarty in a lot of ways, though it does have a large cast of characters and shifting timelines as she often does. It takes a while to figure out what the book is actually doing, the beginning is so unusual that you wonder how the book moves forward after that. But it turns out I actually kind of liked the concept! It is quite morbid, but books don't often have everyday people who aren't in imminent peril deeply consider their own deaths. It's a gutsy thing for an author who often writes very fluffy books. (Although this morbid streak was definitely a big part of Nine Perfect Strangers, which I think was her worst book. This one is much better, thank goodness.)
Eventually I found a rhythm with the book and I was happy to come back to it and see how these characters were all doing. I even started to care about Cherry, which I really did not expect. I found her quite annoying for the first third.
It is all kind of cheesy in the end, but in a way I think it works better as a concept than a lot of her more mystery-y books. Even if each character ends up seeming like they're in their own afterschool special. ...more
In 2019 when this book came out to much acclaim and attention, I remember being in New York City, that this was the book I would see people holding anIn 2019 when this book came out to much acclaim and attention, I remember being in New York City, that this was the book I would see people holding and reading on the subway, in the airport. When I saw it, I would roll my eyes. I had purposely chosen not to read it. Why did we need it, I thought. Why should I spend any more time in this cultural moment listening to cishetwhitemen? And now, almost exactly five years later, I found myself on the opposite foot. Over the last several years I've read so many interesting books exploring identity by women, by people of color, by queer people. The expansion of all the other kinds of people in literature has been dizzying and exciting. But it made me wonder lately, what are the cishetwhitemen doing? Why aren't they having their own counter-considerations of identity? As structures shift, as populations change, as the backlash of patriarchy continues, what do the great male writers have to say on the subject and their culpability? I asked this question and the response was basically crickets. But one person recommended this book, so I figured I would give it a try. Lo and behold, Lerner is exploring a lot of what I am thinking about. (Though he doesn't fully provide an answer, as this is really a study of 1990's suburban maleness, with only a sidelong glance at the present.)
Almost all the time we spend with teenage Adam is occupied with specifically male concerns, about how he must present himself to his peers, to his girlfriend. This is echoed in his forensics tournaments, competitions where he can game the system in his favor by speaking a certain way rather than by saying something of substance. It is all presentation, all posturing, all talking around and talking towards violence while not being in any way prepared for actual violence. This was much of what I really loved about the book and what I was looking for when I asked these questions about male writers in this moment. Is it everything I wanted? No. There is an anecdote at the end of the book that feels tacked on, a way to illustrate the same story of the book in microcosm, to move it into the present in a way that doesn't fully work. (There is a whiff of as a father of daughters in it that remains fully unexplored, disappointing.) But there's enough here that really seems to examine, to explore. Even if it's through the eyes of a future poet, which is not exactly what I was envisioning.
Because this is a "literary" novel, there is a feeling of it being almost like a piece of origami, folding in on itself, layer upon layer. There is often repetition, sometimes simply the same stories through different eyes. Sometimes a very loose experience of time, as in the Jonathan chapters. I liked this, the different experiences of voice and immediacy in the different sections. I liked the Jane chapters in particular, the monologue of them, the confession mixed with the practiced analysis, the rationalizing of emotions.
I had a bit of a hiccup with this as I didn't realize for the first third or so that Adam and Darren were not the same person. (This is more likely to happen with me on audio, both characters were read by the same narrator, there was usually no pause or title to indicate we had moved from one to the other. And out loud they do not feel all that different, though they look quite different on the page. Whoops!) Everything was much easier once I'd sorted that. I do wish we had more time with Darren, more exploration of him. He is, to me, just as interesting as Adam. And I think what he presents to us gives more complexity. I would happily have traded all of Jonathan (which adds that narrative looseness but not much else) for a lot more Darren.
The forensics stuff is fantastic, closely observed, thoughtful, intriguing, making its points so effectively but without feeding them to you.
So my apologies to this book. Sorry I thought you were pointless. You were actually quite good and I would like more books like this. ...more
3.5 stars. Way back in the day when I read this novel for the first time I found it disappointing. And I'll acknowledge that it's still probably Water3.5 stars. Way back in the day when I read this novel for the first time I found it disappointing. And I'll acknowledge that it's still probably Waters' weakest novel. But I was too hard on it, probably because I read it after Fingersmith and it's really not fair to compare the two.
But I have read more than a few novels about spiritualists of the 19th century and I haven't ever found any of the books truly satisfying. This suffers from many of the same problems, making it hard to know as a reader if we are supposed to believe in the supernatural elements or doubt them, while also not making it very easy to not pick a side as you read.
Still there's a lot to like here. It's such a Sarah Waters novel, jumping in halfway through Margaret's story and never fully giving us the account of her first love affair with her now-sister-in-law Helen. The only Margaret we see is lost, drugged nightly by her mother after a suicide attempt following her father's death, struggling to find a reason to exist in the world.
I actually think that while the plot here is quite good, the real error is having Waters hold back so much to then throw at the very end. Perhaps she figured this out herself because Fingersmith takes a truly impressive approach to the reversals and changing points of view that could have made this more fun. But it's also a book that doesn't exactly want to be fun, it wants to be down in the mournful woes of prison and depression, the difficult lives of the women in Milbank. The book has a slight identity crisis, but also Waters is just really good. Keeps things moving even when so little happens for much of the novel.
I was much too hard on it, though it does have its flaws. The thing is, it still only really looks flawed if you put it in Waters' larger body of work. And so often, her books are better when you reread them, when you already know what she is doing and you just get to enjoy yourself. I suspect the same is true here. ...more
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