Alice Sebold

2023 Advent, Day 6: I started reading and instantly became very sad as it was a story about a mature (her kids are fully grown adults) taking care of her aging mother who seemed to have mental struggles and likely developing dementia. This is a subject i am already very sensitive to and so braved myself for some cathartic crying. I was prepared for a novel exploring aging and mortality and healing generational wounds and trauma even if one participant cannot even remember the issues. NOPE. the woman murders her mom. This is a story about trauma, just not the kind i was anticipating, and about matricide.
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If you should be interested, I do not count the above as spoilers because that all happens in the first couple of chapters, and is strongly hinted at in the plot synopsis on the back cover. Judge a book by it's cover? Clearly was not me today.....… (more)

Reading this book was a beautiful and heart-warming journey. It just amazed me. It made me want to cry with its beauty and with its tragedy. But the journey of the book is realizing what tragedy does to us. And that we all have to find a way through it. That who we find as we heal is a different person than we were, a different person than everyone was. And to try to cling to who you were before is a silly joke you play on yourself. Tragedy changes you and everyone it touches. What comes out on the other side can be even more beautiful than who once was. Embrace it.
I would recommend this book for everyone that can handle it. It's an incredible read!… (more)