twist

This was, without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read. And it kind of snuck up on me. I wasn’t overwhelmed by the opening. It was an easy read, entertaining. I thought it would be some family drama about missing kids and broken homes. I thought I knew what was coming. First of all, I didn’t see the twist coming (oh boy, it’s a good one!), but more than that, the twist doesn’t dominate the story. It doesn’t reduce it in any way. And I won’t spoil it. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it does matter, but the book both is and isn’t about what the twist is about (read it, you’ll understand). In a roundabout, conversational, honest, delicate way, the book manages to be about what it means to be a woman in the world as we know it. What it means to be anyone (although a lot of it is focused on women). And that’s another thing. The book manages to be about female experience without being like THIS IS THE BOOK WHERE WE TALK ABOUT WOMEN AND WOMEN THINGS AND WHAT THEY DO. As it should be; it is a book that acknowledges the problems of being a woman, and the anxieties of being a woman, without letting that dominate. It was all part of the story. As it is in real female experience. And the whole book was like that: subtle, delicate, engaging, emotional. It was funny and light as well as moving and thought-provoking. I really can’t recommend this book enough.