I hated this book. The main character, Isabel, a bitter, isolated woman living alone in the family home owned by her brother, is despicable. It takes reading 3/4 of the book to find any redeeming purpose to the story and by that point, I'd lost any interest. So much for Booker prize nominees. Not recommended.
Published: 2024 Read: December 2024 Genre: Fiction
This was a tender, thoughtful book of a sister writing a speech to her adopted brother for his wedding. I enjoyed it as it was the first time I had read about adoptees from the adopting family's perspective and especially from that of their natural born siblings. I don't recall the speaker revealing her name...she addresses her brother, Danny, in a dreamy, reflective way. He came into her life when she was about nine years old, adopted from Thailand as a three year old. We learn of his struggles being adopted and different in the American white family he joins.
There were long passages where she reflects on how adoptees and orphans are portrayed in literature and the rescuing role given to them: Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Batman and Robin, Tarzan. A good read that I would recommend.
Quotes:
"...because change is always tethered to some kind of departure, some send-off to a life you knew"
...how can silence ever be the better, more loving alternative?"
"Love isn't bound up in food...love is primary, attachment is primary, we're not conditioned to love merely because someone feeds us. We love certain people and we need them to love us back."
Published: 2021 Read January 2022 Genre: Fiction
