Author: Caroline O'Donoghue
Publication Information: Knopf. 2023. 304 pages.
ISBN: 0593535707 / 978-0593535707
Rating: ★★
Book Source: I received this book through NetGalley free of cost in exchange for an honest review.
Opening Sentence: "I only ever really talk about Dr. Byrne with James Devlin, and so I always assumed that, were he ever to come back into my life, it would be through him."
Favorite Quote: "When you love someone, you sign up for the whole thing. Even if they're grumpy or weird or sick or... It doesn't matter how many things you have on already. You love the whole person."
The book description states that the book is "shot through with delicious sparkling humor." Unfortunately, I found the book more sad than humorous. My reaction to the book is likely impacted by that fact.
Ireland. Rachel. James. Rachel and James. Fred. Rachel and Fred. James and Fred. James and Rachel. Fred and his wife. And so on and so forth.
Rachel is a college student. Dr. Fred Beans is her very married professor. James is first Rachel's acquaintance, then her flat-mate, then her friend, and then a presence always in her life.
Rachel is an adult with a career. She is pregnant. There is James.
The book encompasses these two timelines. The book jumps between the two timelines often with no warning. It is challenging at times to determine which characters occur in which timeline and what the change in those characters is. It is challenging at times even to see changing Rachel from college to an adult.
Rachel's commentary on the past is as follows. "The year in Shannon Street did a lot for me, but it did this most of all. It detached me from any kind of inherited moral system. I stopped sizing others up in accordance with the values I had been taught: who was a loser, who was closed, who was cheating on their wife. I learned the value of context, and of people."
It is interesting that this statement speaks to an inherited moral system. To me, that would imply that Rachel eventually determines her own moral compass, not an inherited one. However, it is unclear if that happens, and if it does, what exactly are the conclusions Rachel reaches regarding a moral compass? Trigger warning: The incident and Rachel's subsequent decisions in this book may be counter to certain readers' moral beliefs.
Even without that growth that I expect to see, Rachel story of the past could be a coming of age story for Rachel and for her friends. The college days portray, a set of individuals seemingly drifting through life. Unfortunately, none of the characters are particularly likable. I want to invest in the friendship between Rachel and James. However, some of it unfortunately follows stereotypes, and the rest gets lost in the complications of the "incident." Other than the "incident" nothing much really happens for much of the book.
By the time it does, it is too late for me to invest in the story.
Please share your thoughts and leave a comment. I would love to "talk" to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment