Synonym for Love

by Alison Moore

Matty Grover has been running all her life. Something drives her to search for an understanding of her family's past, pushes her to define her future. She is searching for love, or something like it - but love has no synonym. Her travels take her from her small hometown in rural Virginia, where the racial tensions of the 1960s are rising to the surface, to the adobe homes, scorpions, and flash floods of the Arizona desert.
Alison Moore's debut novel examines the human struggle between the need to belong and the longing to escape.

Genres: Literary Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1995

Reviews

[Michelle Hannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Synonym for Love” tells the story of Matty Grover. She is a photographer, a loner. Lost and searching, she finds clues about herself and her history in unexpected ways. I developed a connection to Matty, although we have little in common. Matty’s was not an easy journey and I wanted to give her advice, a hug, or a pep talk throughout.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matty Grove was sixteen years old when her Mother died at the age of 39, from cancer. Not long afterwards her father abandoned her, he said he had to keep moving. Alison Moore is a short-story writer and her first novel "Synonym For Love" seems like several short stories all rolled into one. The novel doesn't flow chronologically, but rather it jumps from past to present continuously as Matty's memories are triggered by present day events.

I finished this book yesterday, but decided to let it sink in before doing a quick write-up. I really liked it, but I did find it difficult to follow at times. And please, let me tell you, it is by no means a love story so don't be fooled by the title or the cover of the book.

[T]

Meh.

I don't know. I guess the reviewers liked this book. But it sorta' left me dry. I kept getting confused with the time period. It seemed like present day, but then the author would throw in a reference (i.e. Jim Crow south stuff) that made you go, "Oh. Wait. Duh." I don't know if it was my fault or the author's, but it kept happening so I am inclined to think it was partly her fault. I guess there were a few decent moments, but overall I was bored with the story. And typically, I'd be a sucker for a story about familial abandonment.