This book got a couple of harsh reviews on Amazon UK. Don't let them put you off. If you liked 'Durable Goods' you’ll love it. This extract from the back-cover sums it up:
“Savvy, wry, and sharply observant… EB’s graceful prose is laced with clear-eyed insight… deft and inspiring.”
You won’t find an exciting hi-octane plot but you’re not meant to. EB says, in her writing ‘how-to’ book “Escaping Into the Open” p105: “I like the small human dramas that get played out in kitchens rather than in exotic locales.”
What you will find is an excellent ‘people story’, a gentle narrative that transports you into Katie’s life - but don’t underestimate it. Someone said that revealing character is the number one purpose of fiction. If you agree with that you’ll enjoy this book.
If you haven’t read it before, read ‘Durable Goods’ first. It introduces Katie, a pre-teenager living in Texas on an Army base recovering from the loss of her mother, being raised by her strict military father. We meet her family and her best-friend Cherylanne.
The second book ‘Joy School’ continues with: Katie settling into a new town, suffering a crush on a young married man, and we meet her new friend Cynthia.
‘True to Form’ is book three and follows Katie as she tries to make sense of the world and navigate a path through the teenage mine-field: changing schools, parents, having to make her own decisions.
The second book held me less than the first but I still wanted to follow the character. The third is even better than the first. ( At a push you could skip the second book and go straight on to the third without losing too much.)
I've learned a lot from studying this book. Her narrative conveys, in fresh and vivid phrasing, the thoughts and emotions as Katie experiences them. Her observations on male/female roles, and religion, will also make you smile.
EB has a powerful understanding of people and their interactions. All through the book are truths most readers will recognise from their own life experience, and that includes me, a man.
( The publisher has added a 'taster' chapter for another book at the end, so when you think you have about thirty pages to go, it ends. I wish they wouldn't do that. )
To sum up, if you enjoyed Durable Goods, don’t miss this one.
( There won't be any more posts on this Blog until around 10th May )
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment