Origin of this Read:
This book was obtained from my local library as part of a local book club. I had never heard about this novel and it is definitely outside my usual reading choices. However, I enjoy exploring the diversity of other reads and getting a little out of my comfort zone. I will be attending a meet up on the 28th to discuss the book, so there will be additional exploration of my feelings on this one (any thoughts on that will be added to my Goodreads review after that date).
This book was obtained from my local library as part of a local book club. I had never heard about this novel and it is definitely outside my usual reading choices. However, I enjoy exploring the diversity of other reads and getting a little out of my comfort zone. I will be attending a meet up on the 28th to discuss the book, so there will be additional exploration of my feelings on this one (any thoughts on that will be added to my Goodreads review after that date).
Synopsis:
Cover Love:
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Breakdown Review:
I have a lot of mixed thoughts on this one and I have been stewing about my opinions ever since I finished it last night. Well...actually, I think I've been conflicted about my feelings since the moment I picked up this novel.
I enjoyed the premise of the story and understood the intention of the novel, but it's very difficult to read something like this from the perspective of the (for lack of a better term) "rescuer". No matter how it is written, it just seems to come off a little pretentious and boastful. Overall, I could tell that Laura was trying to be somewhat careful about portraying that perspective, but her continuous reference to the others around her who discourage the relationship and her individual opinion that she had to do this to be there for Maurice, just feels a bit like fishing for compliments and adoration.
The story of Maurice and Laura's meeting and early interaction is emotional and somewhat uplifting, but it doesn't feel fully explored in the writing and it seems a bit superficial. The exploration of Maurice's life is better revealed. The impact of those chapters was huge and I really found myself interested, shocked, and concerned about Maurice's situation. I did feel good that he had someone to be there for him.
The big thing that bothered me was the fact that the whole book was presented by Laura. I would have appreciated the book to have been a more cooperative writing project by both Laura and Maurice. I would have liked to hear his voice in the story. Laura mentioned in another review that Maurice was involved and a full profit partner in the novel, but he isn't credited and nothing is told from his perspective. This made it a bit difficult for me to fully accept Laura's explanation of his situations and feelings. I needed a first person reflection on all of the complicated issues that Maurice faced during his childhood. That's the trouble with non-fiction. An omniscient narrator is just a difficult perspective when you're combining an autobiography and a biographical angle.
In fact, the book itself really felt like two separate novels to me. I enjoyed the exploration of Laura's life history and understood that she was attempting to show some parallels between her life and Maurice's, indicating that she could identify with some of his struggles. However, the back and forth perspective is awkward and there really isn't a comfortable flow with this information. There are also some sections where information is unnecessary to the story and really kind of threw me off of my comfort with the narrative. She tries overly hard to draw in information from her life outside of this relationship and it seems to distract from the intent.
My mind and heart are just in a tangle after this one. There is a lot to process and reconcile. It became a difficult read in the end and I felt so terribly uncomfortable. Things just didn't go the way they should have and it seemed like a mild trainwreck that developed in a way that felt unnatural. I'm trying hard not to give spoilers here, but basically Laura is a smarter person than she comes off as during the ending portion of the book. There is a presence of a blatant ignorance in planning and understanding that just felt wrong, unbelievable, and honestly somewhat stupid on her part.
Regardless, this was still a good story and I did enjoy the exposure to Maurice's story. His relationship with Laura honestly didn't feel as important to me as simply his ability to move forward and escape the deplorable situations he finds himself in. Had this been written and explored from Maurice's point of view, I feel like it would have been a stellar read that could rank much higher for me.
Emotional Response: I have a lot of mixed thoughts on this one and I have been stewing about my opinions ever since I finished it last night. Well...actually, I think I've been conflicted about my feelings since the moment I picked up this novel.
I enjoyed the premise of the story and understood the intention of the novel, but it's very difficult to read something like this from the perspective of the (for lack of a better term) "rescuer". No matter how it is written, it just seems to come off a little pretentious and boastful. Overall, I could tell that Laura was trying to be somewhat careful about portraying that perspective, but her continuous reference to the others around her who discourage the relationship and her individual opinion that she had to do this to be there for Maurice, just feels a bit like fishing for compliments and adoration.
The story of Maurice and Laura's meeting and early interaction is emotional and somewhat uplifting, but it doesn't feel fully explored in the writing and it seems a bit superficial. The exploration of Maurice's life is better revealed. The impact of those chapters was huge and I really found myself interested, shocked, and concerned about Maurice's situation. I did feel good that he had someone to be there for him.
The big thing that bothered me was the fact that the whole book was presented by Laura. I would have appreciated the book to have been a more cooperative writing project by both Laura and Maurice. I would have liked to hear his voice in the story. Laura mentioned in another review that Maurice was involved and a full profit partner in the novel, but he isn't credited and nothing is told from his perspective. This made it a bit difficult for me to fully accept Laura's explanation of his situations and feelings. I needed a first person reflection on all of the complicated issues that Maurice faced during his childhood. That's the trouble with non-fiction. An omniscient narrator is just a difficult perspective when you're combining an autobiography and a biographical angle.
In fact, the book itself really felt like two separate novels to me. I enjoyed the exploration of Laura's life history and understood that she was attempting to show some parallels between her life and Maurice's, indicating that she could identify with some of his struggles. However, the back and forth perspective is awkward and there really isn't a comfortable flow with this information. There are also some sections where information is unnecessary to the story and really kind of threw me off of my comfort with the narrative. She tries overly hard to draw in information from her life outside of this relationship and it seems to distract from the intent.
My mind and heart are just in a tangle after this one. There is a lot to process and reconcile. It became a difficult read in the end and I felt so terribly uncomfortable. Things just didn't go the way they should have and it seemed like a mild trainwreck that developed in a way that felt unnatural. I'm trying hard not to give spoilers here, but basically Laura is a smarter person than she comes off as during the ending portion of the book. There is a presence of a blatant ignorance in planning and understanding that just felt wrong, unbelievable, and honestly somewhat stupid on her part.
Regardless, this was still a good story and I did enjoy the exposure to Maurice's story. His relationship with Laura honestly didn't feel as important to me as simply his ability to move forward and escape the deplorable situations he finds himself in. Had this been written and explored from Maurice's point of view, I feel like it would have been a stellar read that could rank much higher for me.
Confused, uncertain, and totally torn on my opinion of this one. In a way, I'm rating the intent rather that the writing. That feels so strange. It's something of the balance between the two in the end, I suppose. I've never had this situation arise before and I know I'll be contemplating my feelings about this one for a long time. I'm very glad that I'll get to explore more about this book in a group setting next week.
Rating:
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