Holy crap, that was an intense read. Especially as a new mom to a baby son. In some ways, I could relate to Eva — the fear that she’d made a “mistake,” for example, was a fear that was very real to me in the early days of Jackson’s life when he screamed at piercing tones around the clock for about two or three weeks straight. Even admitting that here — that a part of me worried I’d made a mistake that would cost me not just myself but my husband, too — I can relate to Eva’s shame and worry at being seen as a bad mother. What kind of mother admits to believing her child was a mistake, after all? An exhausted one, for one thing. A mother who, in a state of overwhelming fatigue, wild hormones, and raw shell-shockness, experiences something like trauma and imagines the worst — that it will last forever.
Lucky for me, the trauma didn’t last. Not so lucky for Eva, hers only seemed to grow. Poor, poor Eva.
So, here’s the question she doesn’t think matters: Was she responsible for Thursday? And why do you think Kevin spared her and not Celia or Franklin? Why did Eva never consider leaving Franklin? She had the money — she could have gotten herself her own place back in Tribeca and given Franklin a generous amount of child support to keep him — and Kevin — off her back. Why, as miserable as she was, did she never consider that? And why, if she thought herself such a terrible mother, did she have a second baby? Of course, she hoped a second baby would prove that she wasn’t a terrible mother — that she could, in fact, love and nurture a child, and that Kevin was Kevin to no fault of her own but simply because that’s the way nature made him. So, do you think she succeeded at proving that? Did Celia provide enough proof that Eva could be a good mother? And if so, what does it say about Eva’s mothering that Celia ended up dead — and not before losing an eye? What do you think Kevin will be like when he’s released from prison after serving seven years?
* Don’t forget to get a copy of next month’s DW book club selection: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
by Wendy on February 28, 2012
· in Book Club!
Read the full article...
Just a reminder that next week we’ll be discussing this month’s book club selection, We Need to Talk About Kevin. If you haven’t yet finished yet (me), there’s still time! Hell, if you haven’t gotten the book yet and you’re a fast enough reader, there’s even time still to find a copy and get started. Not if you have a baby though. If you have a baby and you aren’t at least halfway through the book, you’re probably screwed. Unless you stop watching “Downton Abbey,” and other assorted TV shows, but let’s not be crazy.
And now a drumroll, please. Our book club selection for March is … “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. It was one of our semi-finalists for our first vote and a book that sounded really interesting to me. Plus, it’s in paperback for less than 10 bucks. Score! As always, you can support Dear Wendy and buy through this link (or through the Amazon link in the right sidebar; I get a small commission on any purchases made through that link, which help pay for this site and now help pay for a few hours of babysitting each week so that I can work on this site, hooray!).
We’ll discuss WNTTAK next Tuesday, so be on the look-out.
by Wendy on February 20, 2012
· in Book Club!
Read the full article...
This month we chose “The Marriage Plot” for our inaugural Dear Wendy book club selection. While I waited for the book to arrive from Amazon, I spent the first week of the month reading another book, “Under the Banner of Heaven,” which, after giving it 120 pages, I just could not get into (sorry, Addie Pray!). It was a relief to switch gears with Pulitzer Prize winner, Jeffrey Eugenides’, “The Marriage Plot,” a book that explores the transition from college to young adulthood through the lives of three intertwined young 20-somethings whose graduation from an Ivy League school in the early 80s sends them on three distinct paths of self-discovery.
At the center of the young trio is Madeleine, a pretty girl from an upper-middle-class family in Connecticut who struggles with her desire to be an independent woman and her need to be needed and adored. Her long-suffering platonic friend Mitchell, a brilliant guy with a promising future, has been in love with her since freshman year but Madeleine can never see him as more than just a friend, despite a handful of intimate moments between them. On the other hand, Leonard, a troubled guy from a lower-income family on the west coast who won a scholarship to school, has Madeleine’s heart. Unfortunately, he also has manic depression (or, what we now call bipolar disorder), a mental state that acts like a third wheel in their relationship.
[Click to continue]
by Wendy on January 30, 2012
· in Book Club!
Read the full article...
Just a reminder that next week we’ll be discussing our January book club selection,The Marriage Plot. If you haven’t finished it yet, you still have the weekend.
Next month’s selection is “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” If you haven’t already picked up a copy, you can buy it here now (Kindle version here).
by Wendy on January 27, 2012
· in Book Club!
Read the full article...
In a very narrow margin (93 to 87 at the time of writing this) The Marriage Plot beat out We Need to talk About Kevin for our inaugural book club selection. If you’d like, you can order your copy of The Marriage Plot here (or just click the image at your left). And since the margin was so small, I thought we could make We Need to talk About Kevin our February book club selection, which gives you a little extra time to get a copy. And if your pick wasn’t chosen this time, don’t worry; we’ll have another vote in February for the March selection. Happy reading, everyone!!
by Wendy on December 30, 2011
· in Book Club!
Read the full article...
