Thanks for the review. I finished this last week, and I absolutely loved it.
MILD SPOILERS...
While I understand your frustrations with the ending, none of that bothered me in the least. I saw this as a character study of a deeply flawed, narcissistic woman who's cognitive dissonance literally drove her to a state of madness. I do share your frustration (confusion?) about how and why the relationship between Older Caleb and Natalie was presented to be sexually fulfilling for her...there was a lot of material there that could have been explored. Oddly, I also just finished Shari Franke's memoire and was struck at the parallels in the stories.
I have to give Caro Claire Burke all the credit in the world for creating such a truly hateful yet intriguing character. The woman was unlikeable at pretty much every level, but I so much wanted to see her story unfold. And I think her lack of change was on brand for a person with NPD or something close to it.
I also loved how Natalie really was truly a "trad wife", but not in the way that she herself thought, with the aesthetics and the followers, etc. Rather, trad wives of the past had no choice in their lives at all, and Natalie truly believe she had no choices at all. Honestly, this book made me see that raising girls into women who do not know that they have choices in their lives (or are made to believe they can't choose any other option) is a form of heinous abuse.
I guess I didn't think Natalie had no choice--at almost every junction, she could have done something different (excepting the 1800s Natalie). I'm curious why you think that.
I do think it's a fun read--but I couldn't find the thematic clarity you did!
Without the text in front of me I can't reference specific instances, but time and time again Natalie ruminated on how her entire reason for being was to have children, to procreate and produce "for God". Even after she realized motherhood was not what she expected, she still moved forward with the objective of having more and more kids. I agree with you that at every junction she had a choice and never seemed to make the right one, but always it was rationalized in her head as her NOT having a choice. Now...she's an unreliable narrator, to be sure, so that could have all been her messed up psychology.
But... why? Her childhood was never shown and her mom was a lot nicer than she was. Her sister didn't seem as much religiously inspired as stupid. I feel like her real choice, that she didn't vocalize until she met Caleb, was ambition.
Thanks for the review. I finished this last week, and I absolutely loved it.
MILD SPOILERS...
While I understand your frustrations with the ending, none of that bothered me in the least. I saw this as a character study of a deeply flawed, narcissistic woman who's cognitive dissonance literally drove her to a state of madness. I do share your frustration (confusion?) about how and why the relationship between Older Caleb and Natalie was presented to be sexually fulfilling for her...there was a lot of material there that could have been explored. Oddly, I also just finished Shari Franke's memoire and was struck at the parallels in the stories.
I have to give Caro Claire Burke all the credit in the world for creating such a truly hateful yet intriguing character. The woman was unlikeable at pretty much every level, but I so much wanted to see her story unfold. And I think her lack of change was on brand for a person with NPD or something close to it.
I also loved how Natalie really was truly a "trad wife", but not in the way that she herself thought, with the aesthetics and the followers, etc. Rather, trad wives of the past had no choice in their lives at all, and Natalie truly believe she had no choices at all. Honestly, this book made me see that raising girls into women who do not know that they have choices in their lives (or are made to believe they can't choose any other option) is a form of heinous abuse.
I guess I didn't think Natalie had no choice--at almost every junction, she could have done something different (excepting the 1800s Natalie). I'm curious why you think that.
I do think it's a fun read--but I couldn't find the thematic clarity you did!
Without the text in front of me I can't reference specific instances, but time and time again Natalie ruminated on how her entire reason for being was to have children, to procreate and produce "for God". Even after she realized motherhood was not what she expected, she still moved forward with the objective of having more and more kids. I agree with you that at every junction she had a choice and never seemed to make the right one, but always it was rationalized in her head as her NOT having a choice. Now...she's an unreliable narrator, to be sure, so that could have all been her messed up psychology.
But... why? Her childhood was never shown and her mom was a lot nicer than she was. Her sister didn't seem as much religiously inspired as stupid. I feel like her real choice, that she didn't vocalize until she met Caleb, was ambition.