Ratings2
Average rating4
I respected this book much more than I enjoyed it. I think the experimental form and style of this novel ( a semi novel/ semi essay) was very impressive and I was really interested in the exploration of a mother's deeper relationship to her child. I just felt this novel was very melancholic and it gave me a very anxious and claustrophobic reading experience. The fragmented nature of this novel and the occasional peppering of medical science cases and people of interest often left me distant from the more structured novel elements of the plot. Heavily philosophical musings in the book I found myself skimming over as unfortunately they didn't arrest my attention. I found the points raised in this novel fascinating but in a novel form I couldn't connect with the more abstract thought. Greengrass is a very talented writer and this novel deserves to be on the baileys short list. The issues I had with this book were down to my reader preferences and the fact I enjoy more character centric plots as oppose to form or plot driven novels. That is why taking my readers experience into account my personal choice of a star rating is 3.5 stars. However for those who are fascinated by the abstract this novel could certainly be your cup of tea!