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The Kingdom of Childhood
The Kingdom of Childhood is the story of a boy and a woman; sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother's extramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zach the elements of a young man she loved as a child, but what Zach does not realize is that their relationship is, for Judy, only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets.
Rebecca Coleman's manuscript forThe Kingdom of Childhood was a semifinalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition. An emotionally tense, increasingly chilling work of fiction set in the controversial Waldorf school community, it is equal parts enchanting and unsettling and is sure to be a much discussed and much-debated novel.
338 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
Rebecca Coleman
26 books91 followersreceived her B.A. in English literature from the University of Maryland at College Park and speaks to writers' groups on the subjects of creative writing and publishing. A native New Yorker, she now lives and works near Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 411 reviews
May 2, 2017
Stories about transgressive behaviour are always most effective when they take you into the mindset of the perpetrator. In The Kingdom of Childhood, we hear first-hand the story of Judy, a middle-aged kindergarten teacher who begins a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. It all begins so innocently, you'd never think the story was headed in that direction if the cover copy didn't (prudently) signpost it. It's true we are quickly made aware Judy is sexually frustrated and no longer has a physical relationship with her husband, but her fantasies are about her boss, not teenage students. There are other distractions, too: her best friend has recently passed away, and her beloved school, Sylvania, is struggling financially and under threat of closure.
While the beginning of the relationship is queasy because of the gaps in age and power between the participants, it does at least progress with enthusiastic consent on Zach's part. He initiates their first kiss, and pursuing Judy thrills him – at first. Later, as Judy becomes increasingly needy and desperate to keep hold of Zach's attention, their interactions become ever-more disturbing. She fulfils the roles of mother and lover at once, something underscored by Zach's resentment towards his actual mother because of her affair (what a tangled web...) There are a couple of scenes that will stay with me for all the wrong reasons, particularly one in which Zach tries to escape Judy and she wheedles and cajoles him until he realises it will be easier to give her what she wants, and asks her for a blowjob like a little kid asking for sweets. It had to be the most tedious part of sleeping with somebody's mother, Zach thinks later: no matter what you did with her, she was still a mom, and the eyes on the back of her head seemed to have twice the range when she was creepily obsessed with your body.
Woven throughout the story are flashbacks to Judy's past. When she was ten years old, her family spent a year living in Germany due to her father's job; during that time, her mother was hospitalised due to mental health problems, and her father subsequently had an affair. I felt sure from the start that these scenes would build up to the child Judy suffering some traumatic event; in the prologue, she hints at a blank in her memory. However, Coleman steers away from a clear resolution here. Is Judy assaulted by her friend's older brother? What form of revenge, exactly, does she take on the young woman who seduces her father? That seems to be up to the reader to decide. Perhaps the ambiguity is there so it doesn't feel too much like an excuse is being offered for Judy's conduct with Zach.
The whole story plays out against the backdrop of the controversial Waldorf method of education developed by Rudolf Steiner. (That's why Judy's pre-schoolers attend the same school as teenagers. The book's title is taken from a series of Steiner's lectures.) The tagline makes use of a quote from Judy's part of the narrative – I suppose in the beginning it was a love story – and you'd be forgiven for thinking she's referring to Zach. In fact, she's talking about the feelings that take hold of her when she discovers Sylvania, just prior to the birth of her daughter. She is captivated by the Waldorf movement from the moment of that first encounter, as though I were a tired pioneer stumbling into a lush valley and suddenly declaring, "this is the place".
The Kingdom of Childhood has been languishing on my to-read shelf for five years, a relic of a time when my tastes, as well as my ways of finding new books to read, were very different. I wondered if I'd still want to bother reading it, but I was drawn in immediately. The nostalgia that compels Judy to continually revisit her memories of Germany – and binds her to Sylvania – is equally intoxicating to the reader. It was also interesting to read this soon after Martin John, another novel that takes the reader inside the mind of a sex offender, albeit in a dramatically different style. Here, one of the most disturbing elements of the narrative is that it remains impartial, no hint of condemnation in its depiction of the 'affair', just a straightforward account. Yet in the end, this is its genius – Coleman allows Judy to slowly damn herself with her own words.
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While the beginning of the relationship is queasy because of the gaps in age and power between the participants, it does at least progress with enthusiastic consent on Zach's part. He initiates their first kiss, and pursuing Judy thrills him – at first. Later, as Judy becomes increasingly needy and desperate to keep hold of Zach's attention, their interactions become ever-more disturbing. She fulfils the roles of mother and lover at once, something underscored by Zach's resentment towards his actual mother because of her affair (what a tangled web...) There are a couple of scenes that will stay with me for all the wrong reasons, particularly one in which Zach tries to escape Judy and she wheedles and cajoles him until he realises it will be easier to give her what she wants, and asks her for a blowjob like a little kid asking for sweets. It had to be the most tedious part of sleeping with somebody's mother, Zach thinks later: no matter what you did with her, she was still a mom, and the eyes on the back of her head seemed to have twice the range when she was creepily obsessed with your body.
Woven throughout the story are flashbacks to Judy's past. When she was ten years old, her family spent a year living in Germany due to her father's job; during that time, her mother was hospitalised due to mental health problems, and her father subsequently had an affair. I felt sure from the start that these scenes would build up to the child Judy suffering some traumatic event; in the prologue, she hints at a blank in her memory. However, Coleman steers away from a clear resolution here. Is Judy assaulted by her friend's older brother? What form of revenge, exactly, does she take on the young woman who seduces her father? That seems to be up to the reader to decide. Perhaps the ambiguity is there so it doesn't feel too much like an excuse is being offered for Judy's conduct with Zach.
The whole story plays out against the backdrop of the controversial Waldorf method of education developed by Rudolf Steiner. (That's why Judy's pre-schoolers attend the same school as teenagers. The book's title is taken from a series of Steiner's lectures.) The tagline makes use of a quote from Judy's part of the narrative – I suppose in the beginning it was a love story – and you'd be forgiven for thinking she's referring to Zach. In fact, she's talking about the feelings that take hold of her when she discovers Sylvania, just prior to the birth of her daughter. She is captivated by the Waldorf movement from the moment of that first encounter, as though I were a tired pioneer stumbling into a lush valley and suddenly declaring, "this is the place".
The Kingdom of Childhood has been languishing on my to-read shelf for five years, a relic of a time when my tastes, as well as my ways of finding new books to read, were very different. I wondered if I'd still want to bother reading it, but I was drawn in immediately. The nostalgia that compels Judy to continually revisit her memories of Germany – and binds her to Sylvania – is equally intoxicating to the reader. It was also interesting to read this soon after Martin John, another novel that takes the reader inside the mind of a sex offender, albeit in a dramatically different style. Here, one of the most disturbing elements of the narrative is that it remains impartial, no hint of condemnation in its depiction of the 'affair', just a straightforward account. Yet in the end, this is its genius – Coleman allows Judy to slowly damn herself with her own words.
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November 3, 2012
I wasn't a big fan of this book. The positives: it was an easy, engaging read--a page-turner that held my interest.
The negatives: I flat-out hated the main character, Judy. We know from the synopsis it's about a teacher beginning an affair with her son's 16-year-old friend, but the actual progression of the "relationship" goes from unsettling to downright disturbing. And it wasn't just her interactions with that boy that were off. She dealt with her two children very impersonally, like they were nuisances she had to endure when she even remembered them. Her husband didn't fare much better, although he certainly wasn't much of a prize himself.
I guess the author did a good job creating such a legitimately skeevy story, but I think the problem was that Judy just wasn't three-dimensional enough to make her go from just a simple creep to a deeply troubled, complex women. In my opinion, her backstory did little to explain her motivations, and I ended up not caring enough about her besides to find her appalling.
The negatives: I flat-out hated the main character, Judy. We know from the synopsis it's about a teacher beginning an affair with her son's 16-year-old friend, but the actual progression of the "relationship" goes from unsettling to downright disturbing. And it wasn't just her interactions with that boy that were off. She dealt with her two children very impersonally, like they were nuisances she had to endure when she even remembered them. Her husband didn't fare much better, although he certainly wasn't much of a prize himself.
I guess the author did a good job creating such a legitimately skeevy story, but I think the problem was that Judy just wasn't three-dimensional enough to make her go from just a simple creep to a deeply troubled, complex women. In my opinion, her backstory did little to explain her motivations, and I ended up not caring enough about her besides to find her appalling.
October 2, 2011
4.5 stars
A thoroughly gripping novel. Rebecca Coleman's writing style is a "no-holds barred" approach; honest, raw, and intense, the content invoked such a whirlpool of emotions, I was unable to put the book down but came away feeling emotionally drained. It's a compelling combination; a bit like watching a car crash ... horrifying and nauseating but you just can't turn away.
It's not like this is unprecedented behaviour, even when I was in high school (many years ago) there was a male teacher/female student scandal resulting in the teacher losing his job regardless of innocence or guilt. Judy's behaviour is morally appalling, an abuse of trust, power, age and position but I couldn't help feel sympathy for her sad childhood & disconnected, lonely marriage.
Coleman's writing is a visual feast, I enjoyed the flashbacks to Judy's childhood in Germany, I was captivated by the depth of emotion in phrases and the heightened insight into motivations.
Home, where a pencil carelessly left in a side table drawer provoked a fit of shaking, impotent hysteria, as though Judy had accidentally punched through a thin membrane and left her mother hemorrhaging sanity onto the living room floor. (page 83)
You can see the accident waiting to happen, the lives unravelling, the thrill in the attraction, the excitement in the complete wrongness, the fear of discovery, the loss of all sense and reason. The Kingdom of Childhood is one thought-provoking ride.
A thoroughly gripping novel. Rebecca Coleman's writing style is a "no-holds barred" approach; honest, raw, and intense, the content invoked such a whirlpool of emotions, I was unable to put the book down but came away feeling emotionally drained. It's a compelling combination; a bit like watching a car crash ... horrifying and nauseating but you just can't turn away.
It's not like this is unprecedented behaviour, even when I was in high school (many years ago) there was a male teacher/female student scandal resulting in the teacher losing his job regardless of innocence or guilt. Judy's behaviour is morally appalling, an abuse of trust, power, age and position but I couldn't help feel sympathy for her sad childhood & disconnected, lonely marriage.
Coleman's writing is a visual feast, I enjoyed the flashbacks to Judy's childhood in Germany, I was captivated by the depth of emotion in phrases and the heightened insight into motivations.
Home, where a pencil carelessly left in a side table drawer provoked a fit of shaking, impotent hysteria, as though Judy had accidentally punched through a thin membrane and left her mother hemorrhaging sanity onto the living room floor. (page 83)
You can see the accident waiting to happen, the lives unravelling, the thrill in the attraction, the excitement in the complete wrongness, the fear of discovery, the loss of all sense and reason. The Kingdom of Childhood is one thought-provoking ride.
November 11, 2011
My Opinion:
Amazing! This book is just that. It is truly hard to describe how I feel about this book. The book looks through the eyes of Judy and her past. She is a disturbed woman but we don’t learn that until much later in the book,so at first she reminds you of everyone’s mom. The problem is,she isn’t. This book is bizarre and you at first hate it,until you realize that you are loving how much you hate it. It’s sick and twisted and just plain wrong,yet you can’t stop reading it. You are so drawn in you need to know what is happening and why it is happening that you can’t put the book down. Judy is a sick person and is taking advantage of a child,which is disgusting,but the story is so thought provoking and enthralling that you must finish reading it. It is well written and Rebecca doesn’t let you down at all. You do end up feeling angry at Judy because she is so morally corrupt and what she does is inexcusable,but the book is amazing and a must read. I have to say that it is sick what happens in this book but the story is so compelling,you really will not want to miss reading it.
I give The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman 5 of 5 stars.
Amazing! This book is just that. It is truly hard to describe how I feel about this book. The book looks through the eyes of Judy and her past. She is a disturbed woman but we don’t learn that until much later in the book,so at first she reminds you of everyone’s mom. The problem is,she isn’t. This book is bizarre and you at first hate it,until you realize that you are loving how much you hate it. It’s sick and twisted and just plain wrong,yet you can’t stop reading it. You are so drawn in you need to know what is happening and why it is happening that you can’t put the book down. Judy is a sick person and is taking advantage of a child,which is disgusting,but the story is so thought provoking and enthralling that you must finish reading it. It is well written and Rebecca doesn’t let you down at all. You do end up feeling angry at Judy because she is so morally corrupt and what she does is inexcusable,but the book is amazing and a must read. I have to say that it is sick what happens in this book but the story is so compelling,you really will not want to miss reading it.
I give The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman 5 of 5 stars.
October 3, 2011
The Kingdom Of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman is one of those books with a subject that makes your skin crawl, but is a train wrecking told so spellbindingly that it’s impossible to set down.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
September 13, 2011
Judy McFarland is a long-time teacher at the Waldorf school in Sylvania, Maryland, but lately her life has been pretty unhappy. Her husband doesn't have time for her, her children are distant and detached, and her closest friend and confidante recently passed away. So despite knowing that its wrong, when the opportunity to hook up with one of the older students at the school arises, she takes it. Zach is sixteen, with one foot firmly in adulthood and the other clinging to his youth. Being with Judy is intoxicating for him at first, but quickly turns sour as the pressure mounts to keep their affair a secret. And as the situation goes south, elements of Judy's dark past begin to come to the surface.
Be prepared to give this book some time - you will not want to put it down. I got sucked into this story from the very first chapter and could not let go. I was so taken with Rebecca Coleman that I went out and bought Coleman's first book, Desperado City, when I was barely half way through reading this one! I think the story of student and teacher will always carry some allure, whether it is from pure fantasy or full scandal. And indeed, some parts of this book made me feel ill, even when I knew there was no way I could turn away and stop reading. It was curious to see how Coleman switches from chapters from Judy's POV in the beginning, to weening towards chapters heavy on Zach's POV in the end. This worked out quite well, because by the time I was done judging Judy on her actions, I wanted to know more about how Zach was doing. Plus, I liked being kept in the dark about Judy, getting little pieces of her life deliberately revealed to me with painstaking care. I know that it will be a book that sticks with me in my thoughts for months to come.
Be prepared to give this book some time - you will not want to put it down. I got sucked into this story from the very first chapter and could not let go. I was so taken with Rebecca Coleman that I went out and bought Coleman's first book, Desperado City, when I was barely half way through reading this one! I think the story of student and teacher will always carry some allure, whether it is from pure fantasy or full scandal. And indeed, some parts of this book made me feel ill, even when I knew there was no way I could turn away and stop reading. It was curious to see how Coleman switches from chapters from Judy's POV in the beginning, to weening towards chapters heavy on Zach's POV in the end. This worked out quite well, because by the time I was done judging Judy on her actions, I wanted to know more about how Zach was doing. Plus, I liked being kept in the dark about Judy, getting little pieces of her life deliberately revealed to me with painstaking care. I know that it will be a book that sticks with me in my thoughts for months to come.
October 18, 2011
this book...i don't even know where to begin. i guess with the plot: judy is a 40-something kindergarten teacher in a waldorf school in maryland. she has two older children. her daughter is away at college & busy rejecting the waldorf values she'd had been instilled with as a child by becoming a crazy right-wing baptist. her son is finishing up his senior year at the waldorf school & rebels by being a bit of a bro-dude & spending all his time with his girlfriend. judy's husband, russ, is in this third year of working on his doctoral dissertation--something about fish--& judy feels lonely & abandoned as a result. i'm a grad school widow myself, so at first, i was like, "i relate," but russ's obsession with the privacy of his office, canceling pre-planned anniversary vacations, etc, made it obvious something else was going on. sure enough, judy discovers that russ is addicted to prescription painkillers. which is certainly a common problem in the united states these days, but...
see, that's part of the problem with this book. it's as if coleman just kind of threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. we have rebelling waldorf children, prescription pill addiction, hippie crunchy home birth moms, a 40-year-old kindergarten teacher seducing the 16-year-old buddy of her son (yeah, that's the main plot), all set against the back drop of the clinton-lewinsky affair. when done well, this whole "slice of life/moment in contemporary history" thing can be pretty cool. when not done well, it all seems rather clunky & amateur-ish. perhaps because coleman is merely a passable writer with no significant gift for turning a phrase or knitting together disparate plotlines, this felt clunky & amateur-ish.
don't get me wrong, i didn't hate it. for once, i really mean my two-star rating. this book was okay. it was very readable (i finished it in about four hours), it held my attention, but there was nothing about it that bowled me over...in a good way.
what bowled me over in a bad way was the enormously mishandled childhood backstory that was perhaps designed to shed some light on why judy felt compelled to seduce a 16-year-old boy into an obsessive sexual relationship. it's unclear to me if the flashbacks to judy's brief spell living in germany as a ten-year-old were supposed to generate sympathy or shock or what, but i would have a difficult time imagining a plotline more gimmicky & silly. i won't spoil anything, but suffice to say that once judy's experiences as a ten-year-old become clear, the preposterously anti-climactic ending (chock-full of what i'm sure were supposed to be shocking moments that couldn't have fallen more flat) can drive a reader to only one conclusion: "oh. rebecca coleman just isn't really a great writer." she had some kernels of a really great book here. i just wish the manuscript had gone through a few more revisions.
see, that's part of the problem with this book. it's as if coleman just kind of threw everything at the wall to see what sticks. we have rebelling waldorf children, prescription pill addiction, hippie crunchy home birth moms, a 40-year-old kindergarten teacher seducing the 16-year-old buddy of her son (yeah, that's the main plot), all set against the back drop of the clinton-lewinsky affair. when done well, this whole "slice of life/moment in contemporary history" thing can be pretty cool. when not done well, it all seems rather clunky & amateur-ish. perhaps because coleman is merely a passable writer with no significant gift for turning a phrase or knitting together disparate plotlines, this felt clunky & amateur-ish.
don't get me wrong, i didn't hate it. for once, i really mean my two-star rating. this book was okay. it was very readable (i finished it in about four hours), it held my attention, but there was nothing about it that bowled me over...in a good way.
what bowled me over in a bad way was the enormously mishandled childhood backstory that was perhaps designed to shed some light on why judy felt compelled to seduce a 16-year-old boy into an obsessive sexual relationship. it's unclear to me if the flashbacks to judy's brief spell living in germany as a ten-year-old were supposed to generate sympathy or shock or what, but i would have a difficult time imagining a plotline more gimmicky & silly. i won't spoil anything, but suffice to say that once judy's experiences as a ten-year-old become clear, the preposterously anti-climactic ending (chock-full of what i'm sure were supposed to be shocking moments that couldn't have fallen more flat) can drive a reader to only one conclusion: "oh. rebecca coleman just isn't really a great writer." she had some kernels of a really great book here. i just wish the manuscript had gone through a few more revisions.
September 23, 2011
I received an advance copy of this book, and when I first learned what it was about, I was a bit leery. Such potentially explosive and controversial subject matter would have to be handled with great care and skill to avoid being simply tawdry and uncomfortable.
Not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I was hooked. Once I got about 30 pages in, I found myself so drawn in by the characters that I simply could not put the book down. The plot moves along so well -- it's a strange combination of the inevitability of an oncoming train wreck, mixed with a breathless feeling that you really don't know what will happen. You can sense imminent disaster without being able to tell precisely what form that disaster will take, and just how devastating the damage will be. The characters are exceptionally well-drawn, with both the middle-aged Judy and the teenage Zach coming across with total authenticity. There are no angels and no boogeymen in this novel -- each character is flawed, each character has both gifts and baggage that propel them and defeat them simultaneously. Coleman explores ethically complex issues with an unflinching eye that forces the reader to lay aside assumptions and prejudices. The line between child and adult, the possibility of innocence, the importance of fidelity, the very nature of evil... these are all examined in a fresh light.
Furthermore, the writing is superb. Time and again I was caught by a turn of phrase, an image, a lyrical description that stopped me in my tracks with its loveliness and accuracy. Coleman's facility with language helps to create worlds so richly drawn that the reader is utterly immersed. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes a page-turner that also makes you think. The Kingdom of Childhood pulls you along like a roller coaster ride, and leaves you pondering its truths long after.
Not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I was hooked. Once I got about 30 pages in, I found myself so drawn in by the characters that I simply could not put the book down. The plot moves along so well -- it's a strange combination of the inevitability of an oncoming train wreck, mixed with a breathless feeling that you really don't know what will happen. You can sense imminent disaster without being able to tell precisely what form that disaster will take, and just how devastating the damage will be. The characters are exceptionally well-drawn, with both the middle-aged Judy and the teenage Zach coming across with total authenticity. There are no angels and no boogeymen in this novel -- each character is flawed, each character has both gifts and baggage that propel them and defeat them simultaneously. Coleman explores ethically complex issues with an unflinching eye that forces the reader to lay aside assumptions and prejudices. The line between child and adult, the possibility of innocence, the importance of fidelity, the very nature of evil... these are all examined in a fresh light.
Furthermore, the writing is superb. Time and again I was caught by a turn of phrase, an image, a lyrical description that stopped me in my tracks with its loveliness and accuracy. Coleman's facility with language helps to create worlds so richly drawn that the reader is utterly immersed. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes a page-turner that also makes you think. The Kingdom of Childhood pulls you along like a roller coaster ride, and leaves you pondering its truths long after.
May 3, 2012
Not a book for everyone. Major props to the author for weaving a complex, enthralling story around a usually tawdry subject. Extremely well written, it left me guessing to the last page at how it would end. The narrative never feels preachy, instead the reader is left to make one's own opinions on the moral and ethical issues that rise from a student/teacher affair. Enjoyed it more than expected.
February 22, 2013
If this book did not have an interesting topic (adult woman seducing a teenage boy) it would have gotten only 1 star. I think Coleman's writing was trite, her foreshadowing clunky and obvious, and her lack of consistency in characters downright annoying.
Most of my notes from the first third of this book have to do with frustration that Coleman doesn't appear to understand how much the typical 16-18 year old knows about sex and the world at large. When Judy first meets Zach (as one of her son's friends) she is shocked at his use of inappropriate language (come being offensive for her) and feels that she cannot or should not discuss the Lewinski-Clinton drama with these "kids".
I thought the Mrs. Robinson discussion on their way home from the OH trip to be so ridiculously overt as to almost warrant a cessation in my reading.
I thought Russ's drug use (and overdose) was just added drama. I think a book like this (done well) could be an interesting character piece on its own with just a hint of the neglectful (because he is too busy with work) husband, rather than the drug abuse and overdose having been thrown into the mix. Along the same lines, I thought the fact that the school was going broke (and even closes and her last paycheck bounces!) was unnecessary plot/drama.
I also found Zach to be unbelievably inconsistent. First, he is the obnoxious kid who is telling jokes and doesn't ever work up to his potential. Then, he is the super mature and responsive son who takes extra care of his pregnant mother (bringing her lunch in bed) and loves his soon-to-be-born baby sister despite her potential problematic parentage. He is also the kid who never lies and worries about the morality of the affair. Blech...too much wavering here; he needs to be either aloof and teenager-ish or moody and removed, but not alternating super-engaged and checked out.
I found the whole culmination at the Winter concert to be too rushed and silly (would the mid-wife really seek Zach out to warn him?) and the fact that Judy returns to find Russ dead (but amazingly not from an overdose that she caused) to just be too sudden. I get that she is mentally ill and has become obsessed with Zach, but I was surprised that she had not even really remembered that Scott exists and that after his DAD DIES she simply ignores them and allows him to leave the state (isn't there a funeral? aren't there other family members who come to take care of things even if Judy has lost it?). I also found it astonishing that their daughter doesn't come home. I know she has turned weirdly religious, but wouldn't she still come home because her DAD IS DEAD????
Overall so much of it was just not plausible. Coleman was trying to address an interesting topic, but she made it so ridiculous that the book was not worth the time or energy to read.
Most of my notes from the first third of this book have to do with frustration that Coleman doesn't appear to understand how much the typical 16-18 year old knows about sex and the world at large. When Judy first meets Zach (as one of her son's friends) she is shocked at his use of inappropriate language (come being offensive for her) and feels that she cannot or should not discuss the Lewinski-Clinton drama with these "kids".
I thought the Mrs. Robinson discussion on their way home from the OH trip to be so ridiculously overt as to almost warrant a cessation in my reading.
I thought Russ's drug use (and overdose) was just added drama. I think a book like this (done well) could be an interesting character piece on its own with just a hint of the neglectful (because he is too busy with work) husband, rather than the drug abuse and overdose having been thrown into the mix. Along the same lines, I thought the fact that the school was going broke (and even closes and her last paycheck bounces!) was unnecessary plot/drama.
I also found Zach to be unbelievably inconsistent. First, he is the obnoxious kid who is telling jokes and doesn't ever work up to his potential. Then, he is the super mature and responsive son who takes extra care of his pregnant mother (bringing her lunch in bed) and loves his soon-to-be-born baby sister despite her potential problematic parentage. He is also the kid who never lies and worries about the morality of the affair. Blech...too much wavering here; he needs to be either aloof and teenager-ish or moody and removed, but not alternating super-engaged and checked out.
I found the whole culmination at the Winter concert to be too rushed and silly (would the mid-wife really seek Zach out to warn him?) and the fact that Judy returns to find Russ dead (but amazingly not from an overdose that she caused) to just be too sudden. I get that she is mentally ill and has become obsessed with Zach, but I was surprised that she had not even really remembered that Scott exists and that after his DAD DIES she simply ignores them and allows him to leave the state (isn't there a funeral? aren't there other family members who come to take care of things even if Judy has lost it?). I also found it astonishing that their daughter doesn't come home. I know she has turned weirdly religious, but wouldn't she still come home because her DAD IS DEAD????
Overall so much of it was just not plausible. Coleman was trying to address an interesting topic, but she made it so ridiculous that the book was not worth the time or energy to read.
October 6, 2011
Wow. This book was a tough one for me, but I cannot give it less than it is due. To say that I enjoyed it would be incorrect, but the writing was beautiful. In fact, it was the beautiful writing, so tactile and sensory, that made the sex scenes between Judy and Zach so uncomfortable to read. However, this was clearly the intent, therefore the author was successful. I got swept up in the downward spiral of the characters, knowing no happy ending was in sight. I was so fascinated by the concept of the Waldrop school, I investigated it online. I also downloaded a Kindle version of the German children's book that so profoundly affects Judy as a young girl. It is admittedly creepy. Try to see it from the point of view of a ten year old - yikes! This book is not an easy read, nor should it be. Be cautioned that it will force you to face your own ideals and morals. Don't skip the discussion questions at the end, even if you just answer them yourself; they are important ones.
May 11, 2011
This is a book that begs a discussion. It's challenging, not comfortable (particularly for some since the author tackles the taboo topic of sex between an adult and a child). There are quite a few layers to this story and Coleman's use of Steiner's Waldorf educational method surprisingly holds them all in place quite well. I liked the flashbacks to an earlier time in Germany and the references to the book of moral lessons and Struwwelpeter. They coincided well with the festivals and some of the rituals celebrated at Sylvania Waldorf.
I liked this book a lot. I'll think about it for days. One of the ways I know it's good.
I liked this book a lot. I'll think about it for days. One of the ways I know it's good.
October 24, 2011
***Originally Posted to: Bookish Blog
The Kingdom of Childhood is a powerful, deeply disturbing, dark and disquieting read. Rebecca Coleman skillfully tackled an unbelievably hard topic, one that not many dare talk about, not to mention write a book about it - I'm talking about sexual relationship between an adult and a minor. And the way she did it is simply WOW. It gets to you. Crawls deep under your skin. Chills and disgusts you. But at the same time it captivates you in the most sickening way and you literally can't bring yourself to put this book down. At least that's what happened to me. This book is an outstanding addition to literature as a whole. A wonderfully original novel, full of images and thoughts so arresting, so vivid and compelling, that you'll literally live through the whole story together with its protagonists, feeling their uncontrollable lust and shattering heartaches.
Ever heard of a Waldorf education system? Well, neither did I, not I until I picked up this novel at least. According to Wikipedia Waldorf education is "a humanistic approach to pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy." It's an anti-consumerist and very liberal schooling model, that focuses not only on the child attending the school, but the whole family as a unit. Once a child starts her/his education at a Waldorf school, pretty much the whole family becomes integrated into the system.
Judy McFarland, our lead female protagonist, is a kindergarten teacher at a Waldorf school. She's an attractive woman in her 40s, whose life has been in a downward spiral recently. Her best friend have passed away. Her daughter started rebelling against the Waldorf principals, accusing Judy of leading a God-less, uninspired and meaningless life. On top of everything else, her marriage seems to be on the verge of falling apart. Her husband, a drug-addict and insensitive egoist, no longer keeps up the pretense that he cares about his wife. He's focused entirely on his career, his doctorate dissertation taking up all his time and energy. Judy feels lost, abandoned and lonely.
And that's when Zach comes in. At the age of 16, Zach Patterson seem to have plenty of problems of his own. He's struggling to understand why his mother cheated on his father with one of the students in her joga class. At the same time he's doing his best to get used to the new environment he's been thrown into when his father got a new job and the whole family had to make a move. And, you know, he's 16-yo, his body is buzzing with hormones, which makes it even harder for him to make sense of it all.
When the two of them have to work together to organize a fundraiser, something unexpected (and unthinkable) happens. They find themselves attracted to each other in the most dangerous way: sexually.
I won't tell you what happens next, although I'd really like to talk about it. As a matter of fact, I feel that I could discuss this book for hours (which makes it a great read for book clubs!), but I won't. Because I would rob you of the pleasure of discovering this book on your own. And trust me, you ought to take this trip. You won't regret it.
From the very first page of this novel I was hooked. Rebecca Coleman tells this shocking and painful story in a truly superb way. The narrative shifts between Zach and Judy, which gives us a really great insight into what's going on in their heads. And then Rebecca takes us back in time to Judy's childhood and we begin to understand how her past experiences influenced the decisions she made as an adult. The novel's construction is pure genius. And I really liked that Rebecca didn't openly take sides nor try to force her opinions on the reader. There's no judgement, no criticism. We get the whole story and what we learn from it, what conclusions we reach, is entirely up to us.
It might sound like a weird thing to say, considering the heavy topic of this story, but I really liked the characters. They were real. Their emotions and reactions were real, too. Sure, some of their decisions might seem totally irrational and most of us would never behave in the way they did, but in the end we're all just humans. We make mistakes. We follow our hearts' desires, even if sometimes those desires are absolutely unacceptable. Isn't that the essence of humanity? I admire Rebecca for what she did in this book. I admire her, because not only did she have the guts to write about the heaviest taboo topic imaginable, but she totally aced it. I felt so many emotions while reading this book! I felt sorry for Zach, but I also felt sorry for Judy. I was glad that Rebecca didn't portray her as an evil, seductive b*tch, who deliberately took advantage of a teenage boy. Judy wasn't evil, she was lost. She desperately needed comfort and affection, and sure, she looked for it in all the wrong places, but that is exactly what this novel is about. It's about mistakes, misguided love, heartbreaks and trying to hold on to one's sanity. It's a fantastic piece of literature!
I loved this novel. I feel that it touched me in ways I did not at all expect. After finishing it I sat in silence for a long time, pondering the plot, the characters, their decisions and the consequences that followed. It's not just a book, it's an EXPERIENCE. I believe that everyone ought to read it at some point.
The Kingdom of Childhood is a powerful, deeply disturbing, dark and disquieting read. Rebecca Coleman skillfully tackled an unbelievably hard topic, one that not many dare talk about, not to mention write a book about it - I'm talking about sexual relationship between an adult and a minor. And the way she did it is simply WOW. It gets to you. Crawls deep under your skin. Chills and disgusts you. But at the same time it captivates you in the most sickening way and you literally can't bring yourself to put this book down. At least that's what happened to me. This book is an outstanding addition to literature as a whole. A wonderfully original novel, full of images and thoughts so arresting, so vivid and compelling, that you'll literally live through the whole story together with its protagonists, feeling their uncontrollable lust and shattering heartaches.
Ever heard of a Waldorf education system? Well, neither did I, not I until I picked up this novel at least. According to Wikipedia Waldorf education is "a humanistic approach to pedagogy based upon the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy." It's an anti-consumerist and very liberal schooling model, that focuses not only on the child attending the school, but the whole family as a unit. Once a child starts her/his education at a Waldorf school, pretty much the whole family becomes integrated into the system.
Judy McFarland, our lead female protagonist, is a kindergarten teacher at a Waldorf school. She's an attractive woman in her 40s, whose life has been in a downward spiral recently. Her best friend have passed away. Her daughter started rebelling against the Waldorf principals, accusing Judy of leading a God-less, uninspired and meaningless life. On top of everything else, her marriage seems to be on the verge of falling apart. Her husband, a drug-addict and insensitive egoist, no longer keeps up the pretense that he cares about his wife. He's focused entirely on his career, his doctorate dissertation taking up all his time and energy. Judy feels lost, abandoned and lonely.
And that's when Zach comes in. At the age of 16, Zach Patterson seem to have plenty of problems of his own. He's struggling to understand why his mother cheated on his father with one of the students in her joga class. At the same time he's doing his best to get used to the new environment he's been thrown into when his father got a new job and the whole family had to make a move. And, you know, he's 16-yo, his body is buzzing with hormones, which makes it even harder for him to make sense of it all.
When the two of them have to work together to organize a fundraiser, something unexpected (and unthinkable) happens. They find themselves attracted to each other in the most dangerous way: sexually.
I won't tell you what happens next, although I'd really like to talk about it. As a matter of fact, I feel that I could discuss this book for hours (which makes it a great read for book clubs!), but I won't. Because I would rob you of the pleasure of discovering this book on your own. And trust me, you ought to take this trip. You won't regret it.
From the very first page of this novel I was hooked. Rebecca Coleman tells this shocking and painful story in a truly superb way. The narrative shifts between Zach and Judy, which gives us a really great insight into what's going on in their heads. And then Rebecca takes us back in time to Judy's childhood and we begin to understand how her past experiences influenced the decisions she made as an adult. The novel's construction is pure genius. And I really liked that Rebecca didn't openly take sides nor try to force her opinions on the reader. There's no judgement, no criticism. We get the whole story and what we learn from it, what conclusions we reach, is entirely up to us.
It might sound like a weird thing to say, considering the heavy topic of this story, but I really liked the characters. They were real. Their emotions and reactions were real, too. Sure, some of their decisions might seem totally irrational and most of us would never behave in the way they did, but in the end we're all just humans. We make mistakes. We follow our hearts' desires, even if sometimes those desires are absolutely unacceptable. Isn't that the essence of humanity? I admire Rebecca for what she did in this book. I admire her, because not only did she have the guts to write about the heaviest taboo topic imaginable, but she totally aced it. I felt so many emotions while reading this book! I felt sorry for Zach, but I also felt sorry for Judy. I was glad that Rebecca didn't portray her as an evil, seductive b*tch, who deliberately took advantage of a teenage boy. Judy wasn't evil, she was lost. She desperately needed comfort and affection, and sure, she looked for it in all the wrong places, but that is exactly what this novel is about. It's about mistakes, misguided love, heartbreaks and trying to hold on to one's sanity. It's a fantastic piece of literature!
I loved this novel. I feel that it touched me in ways I did not at all expect. After finishing it I sat in silence for a long time, pondering the plot, the characters, their decisions and the consequences that followed. It's not just a book, it's an EXPERIENCE. I believe that everyone ought to read it at some point.
October 19, 2024
No malas varētu šķist, ka Džūdijai 43 gadu vecumā vairāk vai mazāk, kā jau jebkuram, varētu būt sanākusi izdevusies dzīve. Ir sasniegti stereotipiskie mērķi ar sievu, bērniem, kuri jau drīz paši savā dzīvē, kā arī stabils darbs bērnudārzā, kas ir daļa no lielākas Waldof izglītības kompleksa līdz pat divpadsmitajai klasei. Tomēr, kā tas nereti gadās, tad ārējā fasāde var būt maldīga, aiz kuras slēpjas ne tas vien, kas iespējams kalpo, kā vainu mīkstinoši, bet ne attaisnojoši apstākļi.
https://poseidons99.com/2024/10/19/re...
https://poseidons99.com/2024/10/19/re...
October 14, 2011
4.5 Stars
I feel the need to start off by admitting that I was extremely leery of this book simply because of the fact that its first award was given by Amazon. The fact that it’s also a starred review from the Library Journal was not helpful either. I am the type of person who generally hates everything the critics love.
So here’s the deal. I love this book. And not because it’s just oh so fabulously written that it needs to win every award known to man. It’s because I now feel like I’ve had an inside peek to a mother’s worst nightmare. Not to mention, I was 18 when the whole Mary Kay Letourneau thing was going down, so I’ve always wondered, “Why?” (Right after thinking, “Ew.”) This books answers that from both the teacher’s and the teen boy’s perspectives.
There is some extremely heavy material in here, certainly not for the faint of heart. The writing is not without its flaws, and was a bit shaky in the beginning. I mean, what 16 year old do you know who says things like, “But also there lived the ancient shapes his teachers called, altogether, the collective subconscious: the witch, the white knight, the princess in the tower, the devil. A body of archetypes, a language of symbols passed down through time, birth by birth, like the code for the shape of an eye, the blueprint of a human heart. A racial memory,” (pg 31) in his inner monologue? I took all kinds of advanced English courses in high school and still I didn’t know the word “archetype” until I took my YA lit class for my master’s degree last summer. If you want a more realistic inner monologue for a teen boy, read Will Grayson, Will Grayson. But I digress… the writing gets better, much better. The boy starts acting like a real boy. Insert Pinocchio joke here…
There were times when I felt like I could actually understand how this whole affair got started. I felt myself sympathizing with these characters. Zach and Judy are both so completely starved for attention, physical contact, and emotional connection that is seems plausible they would take it at the first opportunity no matter who it came from. This does not last. I get angry pretty quick and find myself wanting to bonk Judy on the head with a steel pipe. She’s an idiot. An absolute idiot. This is used over and over again, but it really is like having a front row seat at a train wreck. This woman is batshit crazy. As you read the excerpts of Judy’s past in Germany, this becomes increasingly clear.
The narration alternates between Judy speaking in 1st person/present, Judy in 3rd person/past, and Zach in 3rd person/present. Sometimes during present Judy, it seems as though she is actually telling this in 1st person/past. That or a whole lot of foreshadowing is going on. Judy knows she is going to turn into an uncontrollable monster, but does nothing to stop it. For example,
I feel the need to call attention to one of the questions in the provided discussion guide. Question 11 asks, “At the end of the book, did Judy redeem herself to you in any way? Did you feel pity for her?” Um,
So in closing, this book evokes a multitude of emotions, good and bad. Who am I kidding, mostly bad. Definitely worth the read and the starred review.
I feel the need to start off by admitting that I was extremely leery of this book simply because of the fact that its first award was given by Amazon. The fact that it’s also a starred review from the Library Journal was not helpful either. I am the type of person who generally hates everything the critics love.
So here’s the deal. I love this book. And not because it’s just oh so fabulously written that it needs to win every award known to man. It’s because I now feel like I’ve had an inside peek to a mother’s worst nightmare. Not to mention, I was 18 when the whole Mary Kay Letourneau thing was going down, so I’ve always wondered, “Why?” (Right after thinking, “Ew.”) This books answers that from both the teacher’s and the teen boy’s perspectives.
There is some extremely heavy material in here, certainly not for the faint of heart. The writing is not without its flaws, and was a bit shaky in the beginning. I mean, what 16 year old do you know who says things like, “But also there lived the ancient shapes his teachers called, altogether, the collective subconscious: the witch, the white knight, the princess in the tower, the devil. A body of archetypes, a language of symbols passed down through time, birth by birth, like the code for the shape of an eye, the blueprint of a human heart. A racial memory,” (pg 31) in his inner monologue? I took all kinds of advanced English courses in high school and still I didn’t know the word “archetype” until I took my YA lit class for my master’s degree last summer. If you want a more realistic inner monologue for a teen boy, read Will Grayson, Will Grayson. But I digress… the writing gets better, much better. The boy starts acting like a real boy. Insert Pinocchio joke here…
There were times when I felt like I could actually understand how this whole affair got started. I felt myself sympathizing with these characters. Zach and Judy are both so completely starved for attention, physical contact, and emotional connection that is seems plausible they would take it at the first opportunity no matter who it came from. This does not last. I get angry pretty quick and find myself wanting to bonk Judy on the head with a steel pipe. She’s an idiot. An absolute idiot. This is used over and over again, but it really is like having a front row seat at a train wreck. This woman is batshit crazy. As you read the excerpts of Judy’s past in Germany, this becomes increasingly clear.
The narration alternates between Judy speaking in 1st person/present, Judy in 3rd person/past, and Zach in 3rd person/present. Sometimes during present Judy, it seems as though she is actually telling this in 1st person/past. That or a whole lot of foreshadowing is going on. Judy knows she is going to turn into an uncontrollable monster, but does nothing to stop it. For example,
I feel the need to call attention to one of the questions in the provided discussion guide. Question 11 asks, “At the end of the book, did Judy redeem herself to you in any way? Did you feel pity for her?” Um,
So in closing, this book evokes a multitude of emotions, good and bad. Who am I kidding, mostly bad. Definitely worth the read and the starred review.
October 14, 2011
I received an ARC of this book and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It tells the story of Judy McFarland, a middle-aged Waldorf school teacher, and the affair she enters into with sixteen-year old Zach Patterson. The narrative shifts back and forth between Judy and Zach, and also from past to present, slowly revealing the damaging events that occurred in Judy's past that have led her to where she is now.
The writing is superb on every level. It is quite clearly the work of someone who has studied the craft and knows not just how to write a sentence but also put together a whole story. I can't tell you the number of books I've read where the author was lacking in one of those areas. Coleman's eye for detail is flawless, and I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Bavaria, where Judy spent part of her childhood. Having never been there myself, I was still able to picture the surroundings perfectly. Coleman's way with description is both poetic and subtle, woven effortlessly into the story.
The dialogue is also spot-on (the conversations between Zach and his friends ring so true you might as well be sitting in the middle of a bustling high school cafeteria at lunchtime), and the depth at which these characters have been explored is so thorough you truly come away feeling as if you know them.
Of course I don't want to give anything away, but the ending is brilliant. I finished the book feeling completely satisfied and simultaneously hopeful and unsettled. An interesting mix, and it's a story I thought about for days afterward.
The writing is superb on every level. It is quite clearly the work of someone who has studied the craft and knows not just how to write a sentence but also put together a whole story. I can't tell you the number of books I've read where the author was lacking in one of those areas. Coleman's eye for detail is flawless, and I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Bavaria, where Judy spent part of her childhood. Having never been there myself, I was still able to picture the surroundings perfectly. Coleman's way with description is both poetic and subtle, woven effortlessly into the story.
The dialogue is also spot-on (the conversations between Zach and his friends ring so true you might as well be sitting in the middle of a bustling high school cafeteria at lunchtime), and the depth at which these characters have been explored is so thorough you truly come away feeling as if you know them.
Of course I don't want to give anything away, but the ending is brilliant. I finished the book feeling completely satisfied and simultaneously hopeful and unsettled. An interesting mix, and it's a story I thought about for days afterward.
July 8, 2014
The book jacket states this is a "love story" and "The most anticipated and controversial novel of the year"....a lot of hype over what is really quite a bland, and at times irritating, novel. The obvious comparison is to Zoe Heller's "Notes on a Scandal" which, in my opinion, is a much better book.
Judy is a 40-something teacher who becomes besotted with Zach a 16 year old student at the same school; Judy's relationship with her husband is floundering, and she doesn't get on with her boss, or many of the teachers. All in all she seems a rather difficult woman, and not one I could identify or sympathise with. I found the hopping back to her childhood in West Germany served no useful purpose, and of no real interest.....just padding. There was no depth or flow to this book, no characters to sympathise with, and not even great writing. One other thing that irked me was the promise of learning something of the "controversial Waldorf School movement", which I must admit, I had never heard of. The book failed on that count, so I looked it up on Wiki, and learned more there than between the pages of this really rather bland offering from Ms Coleman.
This would not encourage me to read anything Ms Coleman writes in the future, and I can't say I would recommend it to my friends or family.
Judy is a 40-something teacher who becomes besotted with Zach a 16 year old student at the same school; Judy's relationship with her husband is floundering, and she doesn't get on with her boss, or many of the teachers. All in all she seems a rather difficult woman, and not one I could identify or sympathise with. I found the hopping back to her childhood in West Germany served no useful purpose, and of no real interest.....just padding. There was no depth or flow to this book, no characters to sympathise with, and not even great writing. One other thing that irked me was the promise of learning something of the "controversial Waldorf School movement", which I must admit, I had never heard of. The book failed on that count, so I looked it up on Wiki, and learned more there than between the pages of this really rather bland offering from Ms Coleman.
This would not encourage me to read anything Ms Coleman writes in the future, and I can't say I would recommend it to my friends or family.
February 1, 2019
Storia di un amore sbagliato sotto tutti i punti di vista. Il libro inizia in modo quasi dolce, riviviamo i ricordi dell’infanzia di Judy e proviamo tenerezza di fronte alla cotta per il suo compagno di giochi e per il dolore per la madre malata; poi la ritroviamo da adulta, incastrata tra un matrimonio che sta andando a rotoli e un lavoro che non la soddisfa più. I figli sono grandi e il marito è troppo preso dal lavoro per prestarle attenzione. Judy comincia a guardarsi attorno per noia o disperazione.
.
ATTENZIONE SPOLIER
.
Zach ha sedici anni e si è appena trasferito da un altro Stato. A casa la situazione rasenta il paradosso e la ragazza che gli piace prima lo seduce poi lo allontana in malo modo, lasciandolo stordito e confuso. Questo è il suo stato d’animo quando i due si incontrano.
Ma Zach è troppo giovane rispetto a Judy, lei è la madre del suo amico, è un’insegnante. Ed è sposata.
Judy è anche un’attenta manipolatrice, disposta a tutto pur di ottenere ciò che desidera, fosse anche un rapporto consumato in fretta, in piedi e senza alcuna precauzione. Durante i loro incontri sono i suoi bisogni a dettar legge, per soddisfarli è disposta anche a montare un ragazzo febbricitante che la lascia fare pur di liberarsi in fretta di lei.
L’attrazione e il gusto del proibito si consumano in fretta, lasciando il posto all’ossessione. Zach è succube e al tempo stesso non riesce a smettere di desiderarla, nessuno lo costringe ad attendere che Judy finisca di lavorare per chiudersi nella sua aula vuota, tirarsi giù i pantaloni e farsi deliziare dalla maestra delle elementari, eppure lo fa.
Man mano che la lettura procede, le ossessioni e i disturbi mentali di Judy vengono alla luce e finalmente la vediamo per ciò che è.
Consigliato?
Nì.
È senz’altro un libro che fa riflettere.
.
Cap - per RFS
.
ATTENZIONE SPOLIER
.
Zach ha sedici anni e si è appena trasferito da un altro Stato. A casa la situazione rasenta il paradosso e la ragazza che gli piace prima lo seduce poi lo allontana in malo modo, lasciandolo stordito e confuso. Questo è il suo stato d’animo quando i due si incontrano.
Ma Zach è troppo giovane rispetto a Judy, lei è la madre del suo amico, è un’insegnante. Ed è sposata.
Judy è anche un’attenta manipolatrice, disposta a tutto pur di ottenere ciò che desidera, fosse anche un rapporto consumato in fretta, in piedi e senza alcuna precauzione. Durante i loro incontri sono i suoi bisogni a dettar legge, per soddisfarli è disposta anche a montare un ragazzo febbricitante che la lascia fare pur di liberarsi in fretta di lei.
L’attrazione e il gusto del proibito si consumano in fretta, lasciando il posto all’ossessione. Zach è succube e al tempo stesso non riesce a smettere di desiderarla, nessuno lo costringe ad attendere che Judy finisca di lavorare per chiudersi nella sua aula vuota, tirarsi giù i pantaloni e farsi deliziare dalla maestra delle elementari, eppure lo fa.
Man mano che la lettura procede, le ossessioni e i disturbi mentali di Judy vengono alla luce e finalmente la vediamo per ciò che è.
Consigliato?
Nì.
È senz’altro un libro che fa riflettere.
.
Cap - per RFS
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2011
Originally reviewed on my blog:
It’s like a train wreck that you can’t tear your eyes away from. There were MANY, MANY moments throughout this book that I said to myself, “I cannot read one more word of this.” It sickened and disgusted me. It’s creepy, disturbing, chilling, and just downright gross. This book will make your skin crawl. I’m not sure how I feel about myself as a person considering I actually read the entire thing. With that said, I’ll get into the rest of the review. . .
Judy McFarland is a kindergarten teacher at the Waldorf School. I knew absolutely nothing about Waldorf Schools before reading this book, so I found this educational philosophy fascinating. According to the author, Waldorf is an anti-consumerist, whole family educational system. The Waldorf model encompasses the entire family unit and does not focus solely on the individual child. When a parent brings their child into Waldorf, the whole family becomes integrated into the system. Families rebuke traditional American culture to the benefit (or detriment?) of their children.
In her 40s, Judy is feeling abandoned by her husband, Russ. He is pursuing is Doctorate and has zero time for the marriage or their children. The author portrays Russ as an insensitive egomaniac, who also happens to have a drug problem. Her daughter, Maggie, is away at college, and rebelling against the Waldorf principles instilled in her since she was a child. Her son, Scott, is a senior in high school and is spending most of his time with his girlfriend, Tally. Desperate for affection and attention, Judy begins an illicit affair with Scott’s sixteen year old friend, Zach.
Yep, you read that right. Because that’s the most logical and reasonable course of action for a 40+ year old woman to take (note my sarcasm!).
Interspersed throughout the book are glimpses of Judy’s past as a ten year old child growing up in West Germany in 1965. These scenes were interesting for me as they made me feel sorry for Judy as the child. I didn’t want to feel sorry for Judy at all. But the things she went through as a child – what she witnessed, what she felt, and what she did – are heartbreaking. You feel for the child who lost her own innocence way too young. Does all of this contribute to her taking up with a 16 year old? I don’t know enough about the psychology of child molestation to know where it stems from and why people do it. I’m not sure if the author was trying to show us why Judy did what she did. I just had a really hard time with feeling sorry for her at all. To me, there’s no excuse at all for a 40 year old woman to have sex with a 16 year old boy. None at all. Nothing in my mind can justify it. Not a horrible childhood. Not a crumbling marriage. Not anything. And if the author was trying to justify it, then that just makes me sick.
Knowing that student-teacher relationships actually occur in real life actually made this book all the more horrifying to me. How innocence can be lost. How intelligent women can turn into child molesters. It makes me sick to my stomach. Having read the book, I still cannot wrap my head around Judy’s actions. Sure her husband is a jerk. I’m sure she’s not the only one who has had an idiot husband. But to turn to a 16 year old boy for affection? I can’t wrap my brain around that decision, even knowing Judy’s history.
Coleman is a masterful writer, that I can say without a doubt. The fact that this book has brought out such strong feelings in me is a testament to her ability to bring out such strong, defined, flawed characters. I can’t say I liked this book, just based on the subject matter, but it’s a book that will provoke strong reactions in you and make you think for days after.
It’s like a train wreck that you can’t tear your eyes away from. There were MANY, MANY moments throughout this book that I said to myself, “I cannot read one more word of this.” It sickened and disgusted me. It’s creepy, disturbing, chilling, and just downright gross. This book will make your skin crawl. I’m not sure how I feel about myself as a person considering I actually read the entire thing. With that said, I’ll get into the rest of the review. . .
Judy McFarland is a kindergarten teacher at the Waldorf School. I knew absolutely nothing about Waldorf Schools before reading this book, so I found this educational philosophy fascinating. According to the author, Waldorf is an anti-consumerist, whole family educational system. The Waldorf model encompasses the entire family unit and does not focus solely on the individual child. When a parent brings their child into Waldorf, the whole family becomes integrated into the system. Families rebuke traditional American culture to the benefit (or detriment?) of their children.
In her 40s, Judy is feeling abandoned by her husband, Russ. He is pursuing is Doctorate and has zero time for the marriage or their children. The author portrays Russ as an insensitive egomaniac, who also happens to have a drug problem. Her daughter, Maggie, is away at college, and rebelling against the Waldorf principles instilled in her since she was a child. Her son, Scott, is a senior in high school and is spending most of his time with his girlfriend, Tally. Desperate for affection and attention, Judy begins an illicit affair with Scott’s sixteen year old friend, Zach.
Yep, you read that right. Because that’s the most logical and reasonable course of action for a 40+ year old woman to take (note my sarcasm!).
Interspersed throughout the book are glimpses of Judy’s past as a ten year old child growing up in West Germany in 1965. These scenes were interesting for me as they made me feel sorry for Judy as the child. I didn’t want to feel sorry for Judy at all. But the things she went through as a child – what she witnessed, what she felt, and what she did – are heartbreaking. You feel for the child who lost her own innocence way too young. Does all of this contribute to her taking up with a 16 year old? I don’t know enough about the psychology of child molestation to know where it stems from and why people do it. I’m not sure if the author was trying to show us why Judy did what she did. I just had a really hard time with feeling sorry for her at all. To me, there’s no excuse at all for a 40 year old woman to have sex with a 16 year old boy. None at all. Nothing in my mind can justify it. Not a horrible childhood. Not a crumbling marriage. Not anything. And if the author was trying to justify it, then that just makes me sick.
Knowing that student-teacher relationships actually occur in real life actually made this book all the more horrifying to me. How innocence can be lost. How intelligent women can turn into child molesters. It makes me sick to my stomach. Having read the book, I still cannot wrap my head around Judy’s actions. Sure her husband is a jerk. I’m sure she’s not the only one who has had an idiot husband. But to turn to a 16 year old boy for affection? I can’t wrap my brain around that decision, even knowing Judy’s history.
Coleman is a masterful writer, that I can say without a doubt. The fact that this book has brought out such strong feelings in me is a testament to her ability to bring out such strong, defined, flawed characters. I can’t say I liked this book, just based on the subject matter, but it’s a book that will provoke strong reactions in you and make you think for days after.
December 6, 2020
I was so squicked out by the description (from the adult's POV) of the initiation of their relationship that I wasn't sure I could finish this book. But I'm glad I persevered.
It was well done. The author managed to convey the pull of the relationship between teacher and student without romanticizing or sensationalizing it. The nature of it, the consequences, and each participant's changing attitudes about what they were doing presented an uncomfortable but compelling story, especially towards the end.
Paperback version, obviously secondhand and a little tattered. Not sure how it ended up on my TBR shelf, but it was a worthwhile read.
It was well done. The author managed to convey the pull of the relationship between teacher and student without romanticizing or sensationalizing it. The nature of it, the consequences, and each participant's changing attitudes about what they were doing presented an uncomfortable but compelling story, especially towards the end.
Paperback version, obviously secondhand and a little tattered. Not sure how it ended up on my TBR shelf, but it was a worthwhile read.
October 3, 2011
I have to applaud Rebecca for writing a book that I think everyone else would be afraid too. Kingdom of Childhood is about a teacher starting a sexual affair with a teenager at her school. I have to admit that this is a sad story. And the truth is I actually feel bad for the main character Judy because I can see why she felt that starting a sexual relationship with Zach wasn't an issue. Having both characters experience things in life that can be mind altering. And those kind of experiences make children think some actions are okay. They're unaware of the consequences behind these actions. If only Judy as an adult had the love she yearns from her own husband then maybe she wouldn't have turned to this little boy. And if maybe Zach had proper guidance, maybe he wouldn't have made the choice to become involved with a teacher. I feel bad for both of these characters.
This book literally captivated me from the very beginning. I felt glued with just the prologue, and by that it had me gripping the book, speeding reading. Because I knew what the book was about I felt like I couldn't stop reading because at any moment something would happen. And that alone, was from the prologue. I just keep feeling like an "OMG" moment was coming up and that feeling alone wouldn't allow me to put the book down.
However, after being drawn in, the story goes back and forth from the present to back when Judy was a child in Germany. And that kind of thing in a book turns me off. Though I'm not a fan of books that go back and forth, I never got confused or lost with it. So that's good. But as you read into her past, you can see why she didn't hesitate to fornicate with a teenager. She herself had an inappropriate relationship with a young adult as a child. Maybe some other readers may not think it's inappropriate but I did. I wouldn't allow my child to have that kind of relationship. That is if I were aware of it. I'm very involved in my son's life so I hope I wouldn't miss the signs if something like this were to happen. I feel most, if not all children that are involved in these kind of relationships are because their parents aren't aware of what's happening in their children lives as much as they should be. It's actually very sad if you ask me because I can bet this is happening a lot more than we're aware of.
As I continued reading, the author goes into details of Judy's past which further explains her actions as an adult. In my opinion, Life is a cycle. As a child, what you witness and experience will mold you into the person you become as an adult. And also these negatives experiences will probably repeat themselves in adulthood and continue on to your children if one don't break the cycle.
The relationship between the two was doomed to fail from the start. There's no way you can get away with this kind of affair and no one notice. It's just sad. They both feeling neglected and they find comfort in one another. But as things progress, you can see where exactly their relationship starts deteriorate. And the events that happen afterwards have you at the edge of your seat and gripping this book. This book was so so good. It's just so sad how everything happened. And I feel bad for Judy, because if she just would have had the affection she yearned for, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I don't know. I just couldn't help but feel for her. This book was simply amazing. 5/5 stars and a absolutely most definitely Good Choice for Reading.
This book literally captivated me from the very beginning. I felt glued with just the prologue, and by that it had me gripping the book, speeding reading. Because I knew what the book was about I felt like I couldn't stop reading because at any moment something would happen. And that alone, was from the prologue. I just keep feeling like an "OMG" moment was coming up and that feeling alone wouldn't allow me to put the book down.
However, after being drawn in, the story goes back and forth from the present to back when Judy was a child in Germany. And that kind of thing in a book turns me off. Though I'm not a fan of books that go back and forth, I never got confused or lost with it. So that's good. But as you read into her past, you can see why she didn't hesitate to fornicate with a teenager. She herself had an inappropriate relationship with a young adult as a child. Maybe some other readers may not think it's inappropriate but I did. I wouldn't allow my child to have that kind of relationship. That is if I were aware of it. I'm very involved in my son's life so I hope I wouldn't miss the signs if something like this were to happen. I feel most, if not all children that are involved in these kind of relationships are because their parents aren't aware of what's happening in their children lives as much as they should be. It's actually very sad if you ask me because I can bet this is happening a lot more than we're aware of.
As I continued reading, the author goes into details of Judy's past which further explains her actions as an adult. In my opinion, Life is a cycle. As a child, what you witness and experience will mold you into the person you become as an adult. And also these negatives experiences will probably repeat themselves in adulthood and continue on to your children if one don't break the cycle.
The relationship between the two was doomed to fail from the start. There's no way you can get away with this kind of affair and no one notice. It's just sad. They both feeling neglected and they find comfort in one another. But as things progress, you can see where exactly their relationship starts deteriorate. And the events that happen afterwards have you at the edge of your seat and gripping this book. This book was so so good. It's just so sad how everything happened. And I feel bad for Judy, because if she just would have had the affection she yearned for, maybe this wouldn't have happened. I don't know. I just couldn't help but feel for her. This book was simply amazing. 5/5 stars and a absolutely most definitely Good Choice for Reading.
September 27, 2011
Rebecca Coleman’s The Kingdom of Childhood is an explosive, dynamic and horrifying look at how completely unhinged one woman becomes in her quest to rekindle the innocence — the purity, maybe — of her childhood. In doing so, she seduces a teenage boy — a friend of her own son — and uses him for her immodest gains.
Or does she?
There are no easy answers in Coleman’s debut novel, which is equal parts fascinating and horrifying. More than once I could only scan the pages with my jaw hitting my chest, wondering how in the world this woman was so sick and delusional. Coleman does an outstanding job of building Judy’s world into something we both understand and don’t understand. After a tumultuous and disenchanting childhood as an American child in Germany, Judy’s perception of love and sex are already skewed. But I didn’t think she was this messed up.
When The Kingdom of Childhood opens, it’s obvious that Judy is an unsettled and unsettling character — but I had no idea the breadth of her slanted moral compass. It’s a true testament to Coleman’s skill as a writer that I shifted from feeling empathy toward Judy to being absolutely disgusted by her, and by the close of the novel I wanted nothing more than to slap her myself. Maybe Zach is screwed up, too, but he’s a boy. A teenage boy. A boy who knows little about love than what he’s seen himself, and his own pull to Judy might have begun as a game . . . but it certainly doesn’t end that way.
As Judy sends her own daughter off to college and prepares for her son to leave, too, she questions her dwindling role in others’ lives. Judy’s eldest daughter gets on a wavering path toward religion and summarily rejects every Waldorf principle she was taught growing up, and it’s obvious this wounds Judy to the core. And she doesn’t want to feel like dirty laundry. Like someone’s second best. When Russ, her distant and overbearing husband, finds himself working more on his thesis than spending time with his family, Judy becomes lonely and distracted and cold. Does that excuse her involvement with Zach? Absolutely not. But initially, at least, I felt sorry for her.
But then there was the sex. It’s at the heart of this book, really — but it’s not just the physical act that drives Coleman’s characters. It’s our carnal desire to take someone and be taken, or the obsession humans feel with wanting to “possess” another. Having intimate knowledge of another feels like our ultimate bond with them, and both Judy and Zach are obsessed with possessing others. Or maybe trying to fully possess themselves. But while Zach is a teenage boy prone to . . . well, to teenage boy fantasies, Judy is a grown and disillusioned woman who more than knew better.
I don’t know when the entire novel began to take on a sinister edge, but I’m pretty sure it’s around the time Russ began divulging some of Judy’s secrets. I was fascinated by Coleman’s ability to seamlessly shift narrative voices, and when her husband started to expose her, I realized that Judy’s narration wasn’t at all reliable. With the introduction of fire and certain characters’ obsessions with it, I actually started trembling.
This is a dark, fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking story — the kind I don’t think I’ll ever forget. While it was often hard to read, I tore through it like I was on fire myself. I don’t know if it’s the sort of story you love, only because it centers on such a disturbing subject matter, but Rebecca Coleman has created an unforgettable tale about infidelity and possession.
Or does she?
There are no easy answers in Coleman’s debut novel, which is equal parts fascinating and horrifying. More than once I could only scan the pages with my jaw hitting my chest, wondering how in the world this woman was so sick and delusional. Coleman does an outstanding job of building Judy’s world into something we both understand and don’t understand. After a tumultuous and disenchanting childhood as an American child in Germany, Judy’s perception of love and sex are already skewed. But I didn’t think she was this messed up.
When The Kingdom of Childhood opens, it’s obvious that Judy is an unsettled and unsettling character — but I had no idea the breadth of her slanted moral compass. It’s a true testament to Coleman’s skill as a writer that I shifted from feeling empathy toward Judy to being absolutely disgusted by her, and by the close of the novel I wanted nothing more than to slap her myself. Maybe Zach is screwed up, too, but he’s a boy. A teenage boy. A boy who knows little about love than what he’s seen himself, and his own pull to Judy might have begun as a game . . . but it certainly doesn’t end that way.
As Judy sends her own daughter off to college and prepares for her son to leave, too, she questions her dwindling role in others’ lives. Judy’s eldest daughter gets on a wavering path toward religion and summarily rejects every Waldorf principle she was taught growing up, and it’s obvious this wounds Judy to the core. And she doesn’t want to feel like dirty laundry. Like someone’s second best. When Russ, her distant and overbearing husband, finds himself working more on his thesis than spending time with his family, Judy becomes lonely and distracted and cold. Does that excuse her involvement with Zach? Absolutely not. But initially, at least, I felt sorry for her.
But then there was the sex. It’s at the heart of this book, really — but it’s not just the physical act that drives Coleman’s characters. It’s our carnal desire to take someone and be taken, or the obsession humans feel with wanting to “possess” another. Having intimate knowledge of another feels like our ultimate bond with them, and both Judy and Zach are obsessed with possessing others. Or maybe trying to fully possess themselves. But while Zach is a teenage boy prone to . . . well, to teenage boy fantasies, Judy is a grown and disillusioned woman who more than knew better.
I don’t know when the entire novel began to take on a sinister edge, but I’m pretty sure it’s around the time Russ began divulging some of Judy’s secrets. I was fascinated by Coleman’s ability to seamlessly shift narrative voices, and when her husband started to expose her, I realized that Judy’s narration wasn’t at all reliable. With the introduction of fire and certain characters’ obsessions with it, I actually started trembling.
This is a dark, fascinating and incredibly thought-provoking story — the kind I don’t think I’ll ever forget. While it was often hard to read, I tore through it like I was on fire myself. I don’t know if it’s the sort of story you love, only because it centers on such a disturbing subject matter, but Rebecca Coleman has created an unforgettable tale about infidelity and possession.
February 7, 2017
Time taken to read -
Pages - 400
Publisher - MIRA Books
Blurb from Goodreads
The Kingdom of Childhood is the story of a boy and a woman: sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother's extramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zach the elements of a young man she loved as a child, but what Zach does not realize is that their relationship is - for Judy - only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets. An emotionally tense, increasingly chilling work of fiction set in the controversial Waldorf school community, The Kingdom of Childhood is equal parts enchanting and unsettling and is sure to be a much-discussed and much-debated novel.
My Review
Judy McFarland is a kindergarten teacher in a school with kids up to sixteen years old, her own son attends the school. Judy finds herself drawn into an affair with a pupil who is also her sons friend, from a model and relatively strict teacher to a women who becomes obsessed with a sixteen year old boy, caution and reason is thrown to the wind and Judy begins to unravel.
Considering the content, the book is compelling reading, we see a well educated homely woman quickly descend into an emotional and manipulating mess. Initially she holds many things dear, family, respectability, loyalty, her family and by the end she is focused on one goal and to hell with anything else. We have flashbacks to the past which may go a road to giving an insight into Judy's decline in her mental health however I think each reader will have different ideas on it. For me, there seemed to be many things thrown into the story and some times there can be too much and it overshadows the main parts of the story. I think the past, for me, didn't offer a great deal of insight and if anything only added a bit of confusion to who Judy was.
The book covers many themes and some may be tough going for some readers, sexual content, abuse, family, love, loss, inappropriate relationships and some very questionable life choices. A mrs Robinson picture, a character who in one part seems like a regular sixteen year old immature boy to turning into a thoughtful, moral and deep thinking young man. Maybe the authors intent was to show the impact the "affair" has on Zach, I personally read it like he could have been two people. Overall it was an interesting take on a story that has been done many times over, 3/5 for me this time, this was my first time reading this author I would read her again.
Pages - 400
Publisher - MIRA Books
Blurb from Goodreads
The Kingdom of Childhood is the story of a boy and a woman: sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother's extramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zach the elements of a young man she loved as a child, but what Zach does not realize is that their relationship is - for Judy - only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets. An emotionally tense, increasingly chilling work of fiction set in the controversial Waldorf school community, The Kingdom of Childhood is equal parts enchanting and unsettling and is sure to be a much-discussed and much-debated novel.
My Review
Judy McFarland is a kindergarten teacher in a school with kids up to sixteen years old, her own son attends the school. Judy finds herself drawn into an affair with a pupil who is also her sons friend, from a model and relatively strict teacher to a women who becomes obsessed with a sixteen year old boy, caution and reason is thrown to the wind and Judy begins to unravel.
Considering the content, the book is compelling reading, we see a well educated homely woman quickly descend into an emotional and manipulating mess. Initially she holds many things dear, family, respectability, loyalty, her family and by the end she is focused on one goal and to hell with anything else. We have flashbacks to the past which may go a road to giving an insight into Judy's decline in her mental health however I think each reader will have different ideas on it. For me, there seemed to be many things thrown into the story and some times there can be too much and it overshadows the main parts of the story. I think the past, for me, didn't offer a great deal of insight and if anything only added a bit of confusion to who Judy was.
The book covers many themes and some may be tough going for some readers, sexual content, abuse, family, love, loss, inappropriate relationships and some very questionable life choices. A mrs Robinson picture, a character who in one part seems like a regular sixteen year old immature boy to turning into a thoughtful, moral and deep thinking young man. Maybe the authors intent was to show the impact the "affair" has on Zach, I personally read it like he could have been two people. Overall it was an interesting take on a story that has been done many times over, 3/5 for me this time, this was my first time reading this author I would read her again.
October 7, 2011
I received an ARC for The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman, and though I agreed to read and review, I was a little worried about what my reaction would be. I do like to explore beyond the chick lit genre, and this one is definitely way out that realm. The main character is Judy McFarland, a typical suburban mom whose profession is a kindergarten teacher. She has one son, a senior named Scott, and a husband that is manic over his doctoral dissertation. Judy’s marriage has already begun to disintegrate, but she takes things to a new level when she begins an affair- with a sixteen year old student. Judy starts to mentor Zach Patterson, a high school student and friend of Scott’s, and they soon enter into a torrid affair. The time jumps around from when Judy is a young girl and key times in her childhood, to her adult life and the decisions she is making. The point of view also switches from Judy to Zach at times, which gives readers a nice insight on his thoughts and feelings on the relationship.
The beginning did start off a bit slow for me but about halfway through the novel, I was unable to put it down. You watch as Judy turns from a typical teacher, to a misguided lover, to an insane predator with just a few flips of the pages. I have seen the words “psychological thriller” being used to describe this book, and I would agree. My emotions were played with, I kept shouting out passages to my boyfriend, and I was engrossed until the end. The writing was masterful, and I thought the sub-plot of Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky was a great addition to the main story. I will say that when I was struggling through the beginning, I couldn’t tell what Coleman’s intentions were. Was she trying to say that teacher-student affairs are okay, that Judy was simply a lost woman looking for love? Was she trying to show why these affairs are common, how people can get away with it, and what happens after the relationship is discovered? I almost felt for awhile that is was the first, that readers were supposed to feel sympathetic with Judy. Her best friend has recently died of cancer, her husband was an absent a-hole and her life seemed to be coming apart at the seams. It wasn’t until the end, where the dots seemed to be connected (at least for me) that showed the disease she was suffering from. The last few chapters gave me goosebumps, but the very last section was a little confusing for me. Overall, a solid story that will make you keep thinking about the characters after you finish the book.
The beginning did start off a bit slow for me but about halfway through the novel, I was unable to put it down. You watch as Judy turns from a typical teacher, to a misguided lover, to an insane predator with just a few flips of the pages. I have seen the words “psychological thriller” being used to describe this book, and I would agree. My emotions were played with, I kept shouting out passages to my boyfriend, and I was engrossed until the end. The writing was masterful, and I thought the sub-plot of Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky was a great addition to the main story. I will say that when I was struggling through the beginning, I couldn’t tell what Coleman’s intentions were. Was she trying to say that teacher-student affairs are okay, that Judy was simply a lost woman looking for love? Was she trying to show why these affairs are common, how people can get away with it, and what happens after the relationship is discovered? I almost felt for awhile that is was the first, that readers were supposed to feel sympathetic with Judy. Her best friend has recently died of cancer, her husband was an absent a-hole and her life seemed to be coming apart at the seams. It wasn’t until the end, where the dots seemed to be connected (at least for me) that showed the disease she was suffering from. The last few chapters gave me goosebumps, but the very last section was a little confusing for me. Overall, a solid story that will make you keep thinking about the characters after you finish the book.
October 19, 2011
This turned out to be a much different book than I had anticipated. I had heard it was bout a teacher who worked at the Waldorf School who was having a romantic affair. Since my grand daughter went to a Waldorf school and I was familiar with its methods and New Age philosophy, I thought it would be interesting.
The book did have lots of detail related to the school that I had seen fisthand, like the spiral light ceremony and candle lighting. But I wasn't expecting the torrid, erotic affair between a 40 something kindergarten teacher and a sixteen year old student that is the center of the story. Actually, though the subject matter is not something that would normally be appealing I found it very well done and convincing.
The teacher, Judy McFarland grew up in Germany in the '60s where her father worked for the U.S government in a small town. Her mother became mentally ill promting her father to begin an affair with their housekeeper that has a lasting affect on her. She now is married some 30 years later and deeply unsatisfied with the state of her marriage to an indifferent husband.
Zach Patterson, the student has recently moved to Maryland from New Hampshire where he had suspected his mother was having an affair with one of the men in her yoga class. He has also recently become friends with Judy's older son. Zach too was deeply affected by his mother's apparent betrayal. Amidst all of this it is 1998 and the Impeachment proceedings against President Clinton are going on which provides a backdrop to the perception of illicit sexual affairs. When Zach and Judy are asked to work together on a school bazaar project, they come together as two lonely souls for which the spark of sexual excitement is lit and consumes them into a web of lies and deceit. Zach realizes he is in over his head and his mind wants out but he is powerless to free himself from the sexula pull of Judy. For Judy, the relationship has become her drug of escape and is ever more needy and drawn into manipulating Zach to keep it going. All of this eventually spirals out of control as the betrayals they both saw in their youth come around on them.
In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have become a cheap trashy novel but Rebecca Coleman powerfully conveys the sense of helplessness that Judy and Zach have. It is a beautifully written and thoroughly convincing story of a psychologically damaged illicit affair.
The book did have lots of detail related to the school that I had seen fisthand, like the spiral light ceremony and candle lighting. But I wasn't expecting the torrid, erotic affair between a 40 something kindergarten teacher and a sixteen year old student that is the center of the story. Actually, though the subject matter is not something that would normally be appealing I found it very well done and convincing.
The teacher, Judy McFarland grew up in Germany in the '60s where her father worked for the U.S government in a small town. Her mother became mentally ill promting her father to begin an affair with their housekeeper that has a lasting affect on her. She now is married some 30 years later and deeply unsatisfied with the state of her marriage to an indifferent husband.
Zach Patterson, the student has recently moved to Maryland from New Hampshire where he had suspected his mother was having an affair with one of the men in her yoga class. He has also recently become friends with Judy's older son. Zach too was deeply affected by his mother's apparent betrayal. Amidst all of this it is 1998 and the Impeachment proceedings against President Clinton are going on which provides a backdrop to the perception of illicit sexual affairs. When Zach and Judy are asked to work together on a school bazaar project, they come together as two lonely souls for which the spark of sexual excitement is lit and consumes them into a web of lies and deceit. Zach realizes he is in over his head and his mind wants out but he is powerless to free himself from the sexula pull of Judy. For Judy, the relationship has become her drug of escape and is ever more needy and drawn into manipulating Zach to keep it going. All of this eventually spirals out of control as the betrayals they both saw in their youth come around on them.
In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have become a cheap trashy novel but Rebecca Coleman powerfully conveys the sense of helplessness that Judy and Zach have. It is a beautifully written and thoroughly convincing story of a psychologically damaged illicit affair.
February 13, 2012
So, usually I love any book that is psychologically thrilling and I never shy away from reading about a disturbing subject. However, for some strange reason, I was a bit put off while reading The Kingdom of Childhood. Yes, while reading the synopsis of the book, I did realize that the subject matter would include a woman who was having an affair with a teenager. I just didn't realize it would affect me the way it did. I was thoroughly squicked out. Seriously, this book was icky and I sometimes dreaded picking the book up. The only time I dread picking up a book is when the book is boring. But The Kingdom of Childhood, while disturbing, is both wonderfully written and one hell of a page-turner. So nowhere near boring. But still, when I would pick the book back up, my thought would be "Do you REALLY want to put yourself through this?" Clearly, I did since I finished the book.
Anyway, the most interesting aspect of The Kingdom of Childhood for me was the character of Judy McFarland. At first, she starts out as a somewhat sympathetic character. I desperately felt sorry for her at the beginning, what with her jerk of a husband and the death of her best friend. But slowly, you start thinking "Wow, she's a little...off." Then you start thinking, "Okay, she's getting a tad bit creepy now", until finally you realize "This chick is off-the-charts CRAZY!" And you see how she starts off as someone who is somewhat flirting with a teenager and morphs into a sexual predator. I also liked that you sort of get why she morphed the way she did (I am by no means excusing her behavior as I find it deplorable) considering the circumstances of her childhood. This wasn't something that showed up out of the blue and was completely out of character, but rather something where you start to think that it has always been a definite possibility for her (again I don't excuse her behavior at all. Just felt that needed to be repeated).
So, I liked The Kingdom of Childhood. Yes, it was creepy, disturbing, and all sorts of ick, but reading about Judy MacFarland's descent into madness is utterly engaging (and again, utterly creepy). So, if you're a fan of psychological thrillers (and not in the detective kind of way, but the more disturbing way), definitely check out The Kingdom of Childhood. And, again, this is not for the easily icked.
Anyway, the most interesting aspect of The Kingdom of Childhood for me was the character of Judy McFarland. At first, she starts out as a somewhat sympathetic character. I desperately felt sorry for her at the beginning, what with her jerk of a husband and the death of her best friend. But slowly, you start thinking "Wow, she's a little...off." Then you start thinking, "Okay, she's getting a tad bit creepy now", until finally you realize "This chick is off-the-charts CRAZY!" And you see how she starts off as someone who is somewhat flirting with a teenager and morphs into a sexual predator. I also liked that you sort of get why she morphed the way she did (I am by no means excusing her behavior as I find it deplorable) considering the circumstances of her childhood. This wasn't something that showed up out of the blue and was completely out of character, but rather something where you start to think that it has always been a definite possibility for her (again I don't excuse her behavior at all. Just felt that needed to be repeated).
So, I liked The Kingdom of Childhood. Yes, it was creepy, disturbing, and all sorts of ick, but reading about Judy MacFarland's descent into madness is utterly engaging (and again, utterly creepy). So, if you're a fan of psychological thrillers (and not in the detective kind of way, but the more disturbing way), definitely check out The Kingdom of Childhood. And, again, this is not for the easily icked.
October 20, 2011
The focus of the story is on the life of Judy McFarland, a middle-aged kindergarten teacher at a private school. Her marriage is falling apart as her husband Russ places his importance on work, and treats Judy as though she isn’t even there. The added pressure of needing to find ways to raise money for Waldorf before it gets shut down sends Judy spiraling downwards. Feeling as though she is all alone, Judy instantly enjoys receiving attention from a teenage student named Zach Patterson. As this teacher and student spend more time together for preparations of this years school’s fundraiser, their relationship grows and leads to a disturbing affair between the two. Will Judy come to her senses before it’s too late?
I would like to start off by saying that The Kingdom of Childhood is a novel with many lessons. This is not a read for everyone; however, I do believe that it is a wonderful story with meaning and emotional depth, and that readers can take away something from it.
I personally enjoyed how Rebecca Coleman incorporated Judy’s flashbacks to her childhood in Germany, and the disturbing relationship she had with an older man. This definitely brings all the pieces of the story together for me, reflecting on how her actions from then, have molded her way of thinking, and have affected her actions of today.
That being said, the novel is written in alternating point of views, Judy in first person when speaking of the present time, Judy in third person when describing flashbacks of her childhood, and Zach’s third person point of view in present time.
I couldn’t help sympathizing with Judy throughout the novel. At times I wished she could just wake up and come to her senses. Judy’s obsession with Zach is quite scary, but she isn’t the only one to blame, Zach isn’t innocent either.
I believe Rebecca Coleman should be commended for writing this piece about the relevant issues within today’s society that will force readers to step out of their comfort zone.
I recommend The Kingdom of Childhood to those who enjoy Adult Fiction with emotional depth.
4/5 An Enjoyable Read, Well Written
I would like to start off by saying that The Kingdom of Childhood is a novel with many lessons. This is not a read for everyone; however, I do believe that it is a wonderful story with meaning and emotional depth, and that readers can take away something from it.
I personally enjoyed how Rebecca Coleman incorporated Judy’s flashbacks to her childhood in Germany, and the disturbing relationship she had with an older man. This definitely brings all the pieces of the story together for me, reflecting on how her actions from then, have molded her way of thinking, and have affected her actions of today.
That being said, the novel is written in alternating point of views, Judy in first person when speaking of the present time, Judy in third person when describing flashbacks of her childhood, and Zach’s third person point of view in present time.
I couldn’t help sympathizing with Judy throughout the novel. At times I wished she could just wake up and come to her senses. Judy’s obsession with Zach is quite scary, but she isn’t the only one to blame, Zach isn’t innocent either.
I believe Rebecca Coleman should be commended for writing this piece about the relevant issues within today’s society that will force readers to step out of their comfort zone.
I recommend The Kingdom of Childhood to those who enjoy Adult Fiction with emotional depth.
4/5 An Enjoyable Read, Well Written
March 3, 2013
Normally this kind of book would not appeal to me but this one had a few things that made it more meaningful and not just a morass of people's inability to control themselves.
It is a cautionary story of adultery written against the background of President Bill Clinton's well publicized adultery. Judy is a kindergarten teacher at the Waldorf school and Zach is a 16 year old student at the school. Judy caught her father in the bedroom with their young housekeeper when she was 10 years old. At this time her mother was in a mental institution and Judy was in love with the housekeeper's teenage brother. The brother was a nice guy and although probably aware of Judy's feelings did not take advantage of her. Nevertheless, Judy was quite a cracked person, you won't know how cracked until near the end. Zach was a kind of this ideal teenage boy; smart, kind, hard-working, in good with his family, and in great physical condition. He had been raised in a yoga/Waldorf environment and lived it quite well and willingly. But he also very strongly suspects that his mother had an affair with one of her yoga students. Backgrounds, hormones and proximity ignite; soon Judy and Zach are involved in an intense sexual relationship. People start suspecting, Zack starts to resent Judy and mostly wants out of the relationship, Judy just gets more cracked. Zack's mother is pregnant and her midwife, in an attempt to promote safe sex, has supplied Zack with condoms. She is quite angry when she finds out who Zack is using the condoms with.
As I said, I found this to be a better than average book about this subject because it acknowledges that adultery can inflict damage on the children whose parents are involved in it, and as a novel it is creepy, has a ton of great atmosphere. It also brings to one's thoughts the prosecuted cases of rape against female teachers and teenage male students. And the current practice of giving condoms to teenagers and trying to teach them safe sex vs the vows of chastity that some religions promote. This is not a preachy book, it just brings all these ideas to the table and lets the reader think about them.
It is a cautionary story of adultery written against the background of President Bill Clinton's well publicized adultery. Judy is a kindergarten teacher at the Waldorf school and Zach is a 16 year old student at the school. Judy caught her father in the bedroom with their young housekeeper when she was 10 years old. At this time her mother was in a mental institution and Judy was in love with the housekeeper's teenage brother. The brother was a nice guy and although probably aware of Judy's feelings did not take advantage of her. Nevertheless, Judy was quite a cracked person, you won't know how cracked until near the end. Zach was a kind of this ideal teenage boy; smart, kind, hard-working, in good with his family, and in great physical condition. He had been raised in a yoga/Waldorf environment and lived it quite well and willingly. But he also very strongly suspects that his mother had an affair with one of her yoga students. Backgrounds, hormones and proximity ignite; soon Judy and Zach are involved in an intense sexual relationship. People start suspecting, Zack starts to resent Judy and mostly wants out of the relationship, Judy just gets more cracked. Zack's mother is pregnant and her midwife, in an attempt to promote safe sex, has supplied Zack with condoms. She is quite angry when she finds out who Zack is using the condoms with.
As I said, I found this to be a better than average book about this subject because it acknowledges that adultery can inflict damage on the children whose parents are involved in it, and as a novel it is creepy, has a ton of great atmosphere. It also brings to one's thoughts the prosecuted cases of rape against female teachers and teenage male students. And the current practice of giving condoms to teenagers and trying to teach them safe sex vs the vows of chastity that some religions promote. This is not a preachy book, it just brings all these ideas to the table and lets the reader think about them.
October 10, 2011
Judy McFarland is at a tipping point. Her marriage with husband, Russ, is crumbling, one child is already out of the nest and another is due to leave soon, her school is on financial skids, and a close friend has died. This pressure cooker is about to shatter her defense mechanisms, allowing her enter into a self-destructive relationship with a young boy, Zach, a friend of her teenaged son and a student at the Waldorf school where she teaches.
Zach is not without fault in the relationship, and, as Judy observes, "My experience with teenagers had taught me they possessed an almost aggressive skill for ignoring the emotional states of adults. It was the same way they handled pet messes or dirty dishes: you can’t be held responsible for what you fail to observe." However, it soon becomes difficult for him to ignore this adult's emotional state and to acknowledge who is in control of the relationship.
The Kingdom of Childhood has been described by many as "disturbing," and in the hands of a less skilled writer it could come across as titilating version of a Mary Kay LeTourneau sex scandal. But Coleman digs deep into the motives and psyches of her characters. Using flashbacks she writes of Judy's childhood in Germany with her increasingly troubled mother and a military father to show us how Judy became the narcissistic person who could prey on a young boy. Just as Judy's troubled upbringing created her, Zach now teeters on the brink of having his sexual worldview skewed at a very young age; a wheel of dysfunction spining on into infinity.
Donald Maass says, "A truly big book is a perfect blend of inspired premise, larger-than-life characters, high-stakes story, deeply felt themes, vivid setting…" Coleman reaches for the stars and grabs the reader pulling us into Judy and Zach's uncomfortable world. The writing is lyrical as well as brutal, and her grasp of the human condition is broad.
I'm giving it a five big stars.
Zach is not without fault in the relationship, and, as Judy observes, "My experience with teenagers had taught me they possessed an almost aggressive skill for ignoring the emotional states of adults. It was the same way they handled pet messes or dirty dishes: you can’t be held responsible for what you fail to observe." However, it soon becomes difficult for him to ignore this adult's emotional state and to acknowledge who is in control of the relationship.
The Kingdom of Childhood has been described by many as "disturbing," and in the hands of a less skilled writer it could come across as titilating version of a Mary Kay LeTourneau sex scandal. But Coleman digs deep into the motives and psyches of her characters. Using flashbacks she writes of Judy's childhood in Germany with her increasingly troubled mother and a military father to show us how Judy became the narcissistic person who could prey on a young boy. Just as Judy's troubled upbringing created her, Zach now teeters on the brink of having his sexual worldview skewed at a very young age; a wheel of dysfunction spining on into infinity.
Donald Maass says, "A truly big book is a perfect blend of inspired premise, larger-than-life characters, high-stakes story, deeply felt themes, vivid setting…" Coleman reaches for the stars and grabs the reader pulling us into Judy and Zach's uncomfortable world. The writing is lyrical as well as brutal, and her grasp of the human condition is broad.
I'm giving it a five big stars.
September 27, 2011
At the local Waldorf School Kindergarten teacher Judy McFarland feels her life slipping away as her husband Russ works continuously on his dissertation and their son Scott becomes more involved with his friends in his teen years. Judy finds the only spark of interest in her life now is in the newest student of the Waldorf School a classmate of her son,the transplanted 16 year old Zach Patterson who reminds her of a childhood friend she was much comforted by. But perhaps Judy’s recent loss of her best friend to illness has driven her over the edge of sanity as her interest in Zach becomes a seduction of the innocence of his childhood,just as her innocence was taken by viewing her father and his mistress in the throes of passion when she was a child in the white winter country of Germany.
Though it’s not something I hold to or support,I will not get into the controversy of a Waldorf education here. I will say that The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman may reflect this open free thinking,undisciplined philosophy. The breakup of families,the temptations of something new,the influence of dark fairy tales,the expansionism of including all faiths or none into one personal experience. I will tell you at different times I found reading The Kingdom of Childhood repulsive, titillating,frightening,and still waiting for the next page to hit me. I suppose we all come to our own understanding of how each of our personal experiences in life came about and either come to terms with it or not. For Judy McFarland things led not only to her committing moral and legal crimes,but her own destruction as well.
Though it’s not something I hold to or support,I will not get into the controversy of a Waldorf education here. I will say that The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman may reflect this open free thinking,undisciplined philosophy. The breakup of families,the temptations of something new,the influence of dark fairy tales,the expansionism of including all faiths or none into one personal experience. I will tell you at different times I found reading The Kingdom of Childhood repulsive, titillating,frightening,and still waiting for the next page to hit me. I suppose we all come to our own understanding of how each of our personal experiences in life came about and either come to terms with it or not. For Judy McFarland things led not only to her committing moral and legal crimes,but her own destruction as well.
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