Blind Crescent

by Michelle Berry

Welcome to Blind Crescent, where everyone is watching, but nobody sees a thing. In this fictitious slice of suburban life, Michelle Berry peels back the pretentions of manicured lawns and the rictus smiles of “friendly” neighbours. With a deft hand, she paints a picture of suburbia so absurdly real that every suburbanite reader can’t help but feel strangely at home.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book by a rather unscientific method: I went to the "A"s in the fiction section, failed to find anything by Cherry Adair on the shelf, and so decided to take out the first Canadian-authored book which looked interesting to me.
I do recommend this - more of a 3.5 stars, actually. Very good character study of a small neighbourhood, but don't expect much action.
I thought the ending (final chapter) was a bit anticlamatic, but I also appreciate it from a literary point of view.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover caught my eye and it promised to be a compelling read. It was, until the last 10 pages and then it just turned weird. This is a strange book that left me really unsatisfied yet I found it very interesting until, as I said, it just turned weird. I still don't quite get it.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! (In fact, I read it in one day.) The characters are so quirky and you really don’t know where the storylines are going with each of the characters. There’s a lot going on in the houses on Blind Crescent! You wonder how and when the characters’ lives will intersect and how the plot lines will resolve themselves. I love that It’s not a formulaic novel with predictable characters (other than the slutty 16 yr old seducing the older dude).

This novel makes you think about how families are depicted to others because of their home lives, personalities, predictable habits. Time to shake up our lives, people!

[Eugène L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great book, I don't know how to call it otherwise.

First of all, the novel is interesting (which is, regrettably, not the case of so many books). It's very well-written and easy to read. The characters are credible and lovable; or hatable (some of them) ; but none of them is colourless. We care for them, they interest us.

The novel is set in a quiet residential neighbourhood which, as it turns out, is not boring at all. Each resident has his or her story. Everyone has their problems, their memories, their hopes. Une petite vie, quoi. And their lives turn out to be fascinating.

The author addresses a number of subjects: small kids, relationship with parents, ageing, sickness etc. All these is shown realistically.

Some readers would like to analyze it. The title itself might seem symbolic: the crescent is literally BLIND, as the neighbours choose not to see each other's suffering, nor do they really care; they didn't even reacted on the intruder in the Smiths' house; etc etc. Personally, I just enjoyed the story and its characters, without spending much time on philosophy :)

Now what I didn't like:
1) We still not know for sure who the sniper was. Was it Jackson after all? It would be too obvious. Ivan? But we know almost nothing about him. Someone else?

2) Where Ivan was all this time? How could he deliver his postcards without being noticed by anyone? What was the postcards' message (all these women in bikinis) ? Why did he decided to return now? And did he really want to?

3) What was Roger Smith 's problem?

Those are the reasons gave the book only 4 stars instead of 5.