I listened to the audio book and might have preferred to read this instead. This is a great story about a woman in her early thirties trying to come to grips with a traumatic incident that occurred during her early adolescence. The book is very interesting psychologically for the exploration of both memory issues and friendship/clique issues. The reason that I did not rate it higher is that there are a few inconsistencies in minor details that were not necessary to the plot but that just bugged me SO much. The thought "where are the editors/reviewers?" is becoming a mantra with me. It breaks the willing suspension of disbelief and is sloppy. I listed to this audiobook with great anticipation. I loved The Bee Season and Wickett's Remedy. However, this book was somewhat disappointing. It follows the story of Celia, who has a sudden flash of guilt that she caused the death of her childhood best friend, Djuna. She goes back home to sort things out. Individual scenes are interesting and compelling, but they fail to cohere into a compelling story. There seem to me to be a number of strands that could have been drawn out to make a more satisfying novel: Celia's relationship with longtime boyfriend Huck; her childhood in a family that was loving but resolutely determined not to discuss anything difficult; or Celia's own youthful cruelty, not to Djuna but others. Yet none of these are fully explored, and the ending is unsatisfying. On a technical note, while some of Goldberg's turns of phrase are delightful, a number just seem like she is trying too hard and distract from the story. I hope her next book is more like her other two.
Sorry, just not too enthused about this book. It seemed to drag on forever and saying nothing.
—Esther
Curious layout, otherwise forgetable, which I did.
—teachsandy
fascinating..a great read
—Teffie
Don't waste your time!
—Nso
Horribly written.
—sammy2012
