I really thought I would like this book. I expected to like this book. Why didn’t I?
The main reason was I didn’t know what the heck was going on for about 85% of it. Mol/Molly clearly is flawed. She has two precious children, Viv who is 4 years old and Ben who is a baby. Ms. Phillips simply wore me out with the lactating references in almost every short chapter. I didn’t see the need. Okay, you have a baby, who is walking BTW, and you’re a proponent of breastfeeding. Hip, hip, hooray for you.
The first 15% of the book was good. After that, it simply fell to pieces. I felt absolutely no kinship or affection for any of the characters, largely because they were never really developed. And the ending, Ugh!! I have whiplash it ended so abruptly. So, the question remained in my mind was Molly simply insane, was she dead, were the children dead, did the elusive husband, David even exist. I never figured it out. Big letdown.
I do, however, want to thank Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Helen Phillips is the author of five books, including, most recently, the novel THE NEED. Her collection SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS received the 2017 John Gardner Fiction Book Award. Her novel THE BEAUTIFUL BUREAUCRAT, a New York Times Notable Book of 2015, was a finalist for the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her collection AND YET THEY WERE HAPPY was named a Notable Book by the Story Prize. She is also the author of the children’s adventure novel HERE WHERE THE SUNBEAMS ARE GREEN. Helen is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and the Italo Calvino Prize, among others. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, the New York Times, and Tin House, and on Selected Shorts. She is an associate professor at Brooklyn College. http://www.helencphillips.com.
COME READ WITH ME 