Commitment

Title:  Commitment

Author:  Mona Simpson

Publication Information:  Knopf. 2023. 416 pages.

ISBN:  0593319273 / 978-0593319277

Rating:   ★★★

Book Source:  I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.

Opening Sentence:  "Walter arranged for a ride up to Berkeley with a girl he barely knew."

Favorite Quote:  "You may not have become what you wanted, but what you are gave me life."

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that the word commitment has many meanings:

• an agreement or pledge to do something in the future
• state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled
• an act of committing to a charge or trust: such as a consignment to a penal or mental institution.

The title of this book applies all these meanings. It is the story of a parent with mental health challenges who is committed. It is the friend who is compelled to care for the children left behind. It the children whose emotional ties keep them tethered to their childhood and the trauma of an ill parent and their obligations as adult children. It is the father who is not in picture with no commitment whatsoever to his wife or his children.

Walter. Lina. Donny. Oldest to youngest. Each takes their own path, navigating their mother's illness. Each hides some aspect of their reality and their mother's reality. "I don't know if you guys find this, but... i don't like having Mom around other people who didn't know her before... They ask questions." 

The scars of childhood leave lasting impact.

• "Sometimes you outgrow even a cherished dream."
• "For years, what felt like Lina's whole life, vigilance had structured her days, no news was good news, until the piercing call would come, signaling crisis."
• "Forgiving her father would have been like forgiving the world for her mother's illness. It had made them who they were. her father's crime had taken decades to complete. "

For its premise, for the tragedy of a family navigating a serious illness, for children who leave childhood too early because of trauma, and for adults shouldering the responsibilities of caretaking, this book should have been an emotional, compelling story.

However, the slow pace of the book creates an emotional distance. The changing timelines create a distance from the characters and from watching them develop. As such, because the reader does not see them develop, it appears as if they do not develop. This presents a challenge for what is essentially a character driven book.

I want to like this book. I want to be moved but am not. I applaud the attempt at addressing the challenges of mental health and a family navigating life with a loved one with mental health concerns. I am glad for the attention to the issue. I just wish for more from the story as a reader.

Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.