Fredrica Wagman

In this novella, a young girl undertakes to deliver herself from the unpleasantness of her tedious existence dominated by a crazed mother and oppressive Catholic school by exposing herself to the celebrity composer and conductor who lives next door, a process which results in her falling in love with the man, or at least longing for him to love her, and with him endeavoring to advance her musical career and education. The book is short on complete sentences, the story being told in stream of consciousness (or, perhaps, stream of unconsciousness) fragments connected by ellipses or dashes. At the beginning, I was entranced by these little prose poems--they reminded me of the finest moments of the great Marguerite Duras--but gradually they became more conventional and merely advanced plot or served as vehicles for the principals to deliver windy reflections on musical creativity. The book doesn't require much time commitment, and its considerable virtues make it memorable.… (lisätietoja)

This book reminded me of A Confederacy of Dunces with a female spin. A wide tale of how dear Peachy arrived at this point in her life including every character she ever encountered along the span of 45 years. Her Mother takes the cake. Her father a study in strangeness. Yet the rambling prose is compelling and at times very funny. I especially liked the drive from dropping her daughter off at Harvard the ensuing drive home passing then being passed by a Jeep with three old fogies and a Cadillac loaded with "Orientals" over and over. Sad and endearing you become invested in Peachy's story and self deprecating manner in the telling.… (lisätietoja)

A short but powerful novel about what it means to join a family. Mrs. Hornstien recalls her life at 17, meeting Albert's mother, the little powerhouse responsible for pushing her family to work themselves up from poverty to wealth by making and selling cigars. She smothers and controls her family with love and they resent it. But Marty coming from an even more dysfunctional family without love, is drawn to her mother-in-law. And now it is her turn to meet her future daughter-in-law.

How did Wagman pack so much thought and emotion into so short a novel? Very well done!… (lisätietoja)

Mrs. Hornstein begins with a young Marty Fish going to meet her future mother-in-law. They begin their relationship on a positive note, though Mrs. Hornstein ended up losing it when she found out her son Albert intended to marry Marty.
Most of the novel is written through dialogue between Mrs. Hornstein, who is larger than life, or Harriet fish, who is a budding sociopath, and Marty.
The book was certainly a fast read, it only took me about an hour or so. I found some parts confusing, but overall I liked the book, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a light fast read.… (lisätietoja)