Review
Nobody writes “marvelously neurotic”
as well as Anne Lamott. As a writer, I loved her novel on writing, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing
and Life (read my 5-star review here). And I’ve said time and time again that I wouldn’t have survived
my first year as a mom without her memoir, Operating
Instructions: A Journal of my Son’s First Year. Her willingness to lay it
all on the line, flaws and all, is appealing and endearing.
So I was excited to finally read one
of her fiction novels. Blue Shoe is
about Mattie Ryder, a woman struggling to find herself after divorce. Along the
journey, she falls for a married man, discovers her father’s secrets, begins to
understand her mother, and starts to find her strength.
While searching for answers, she discovers a small rubber blue shoe in her father’s things. It becomes a beacon of hope and a charm for protection. Mattie and her brother ultimately discover just how dysfunctional their family is, and how it has affected who they have become.
I’m all for flawed characters and
families, but there has to be an underlying likability that makes you want to
endure the character’s struggles. Hopefully the payoff is a slightly less
flawed character in the end, one you care about. This book simply ended up
being a struggle for me. I kept feeling like I was on the edge of liking it, of
really embracing the characters, but I never made it there. It makes me sad, because
I really wanted to love it.
I have enough faith in Anne Lamott’s
writing and ability to create raw and emotional story that this book will not
make me give up on her work. But I’ll be doing a bit more research on which of her
fiction books I try next.
Rating:
3 stars
More
about the author: Anne Lamott is the author of the New
York Times bestsellers Grace (Eventually),
Plan B, Traveling Mercies, and Operating
Instructions, as well as seven novels, including Rosie and Crooked Little
Heart. She is a past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
This book was part of my 2012 TBR (To Be Read) Pile Challenge. Now, I only have six more to read by the end of the year. No pressure!
Thankfully, I love to read. Bring it on!
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