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In a Country of Mothers
No relationship is more charged than that between a psychotherapist and her patient—unless it is the relationship between a mother and her daughter. This disturbing literary thriller explores what happens when the line between those relationships blurs.
Jody Goodman enters psychotherapy with questions of career and love on her mind. But Claire Roth, her therapist, keeps changing the focus of their sessions to Jody's parentage—Jody was adopted; Claire gave up a baby for adoption who would now be exactly Jody's age. As the two women become increasingly involved, speculation turns into certainty, fantasy into fixation. Until suddenly it is no longer clear just which of them needs the other more—or with more terrifying consequences.
Jody Goodman enters psychotherapy with questions of career and love on her mind. But Claire Roth, her therapist, keeps changing the focus of their sessions to Jody's parentage—Jody was adopted; Claire gave up a baby for adoption who would now be exactly Jody's age. As the two women become increasingly involved, speculation turns into certainty, fantasy into fixation. Until suddenly it is no longer clear just which of them needs the other more—or with more terrifying consequences.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
21 people are currently reading
861 people want to read
About the author
A.M. Homes
76 books1,406 followersA.M. Homes is the author of the novels, The Unfolding, May We Be Forgiven, which won the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction, This Book Will Save Your Life, Music For Torching, The End of Alice, In a Country of Mothers, and Jack, as well as the short-story collections, Things You Should Know and The Safety of Objects, the travel memoir, Los Angeles: People, Places and The Castle on the Hill, and the artist's book Appendix A: An Elaboration on the Novel the End of Alice.
In April of 2007 Viking published her long awaited memoir, The Mistress's Daughter, the story of the author being "found" by her biological family, and a literary exploration and investigation of identity, adoption and genealogical ties that bind.
Her work has been translated into eighteen languages and appears frequently in Art Forum, Harpers, Granta, McSweeney's, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Zoetrope. She is a Contributing Editor to Vanity Fair, Bomb and Blind Spot.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards including Fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, NYFA, and The Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at The New York Public Library, along with the Benjamin Franklin Award, and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis.
In addition she has been active on the Boards of Directors of Yaddo, The Fine Arts Work Center In Provincetown, The Writers Room, and PEN-where she chairs both the membership committee and the Writers Fund. Additionally she serves on the Presidents Council for Poets and Writers.
A.M. Homes was a writer/producer of the hit television show The L Word in 2004-2005 and wrote the adaptation of her first novel JACK, for Showtime. The film aired in 2004 and won an Emmy Award for Stockard Channing. Director Rose Troche's film adaptation of The Safety of Objects was released in 2003, and Troche is currently developing In A Country of Mothers as well. Music For Torching is in development with director Steven Shainberg with a script by Buck Henry, and This Book Will Save Your Life is in Development with Stone Village Pictures.
Born in Washington D.C., she now lives in New York City.
In April of 2007 Viking published her long awaited memoir, The Mistress's Daughter, the story of the author being "found" by her biological family, and a literary exploration and investigation of identity, adoption and genealogical ties that bind.
Her work has been translated into eighteen languages and appears frequently in Art Forum, Harpers, Granta, McSweeney's, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and Zoetrope. She is a Contributing Editor to Vanity Fair, Bomb and Blind Spot.
She has been the recipient of numerous awards including Fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, NYFA, and The Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at The New York Public Library, along with the Benjamin Franklin Award, and the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis.
In addition she has been active on the Boards of Directors of Yaddo, The Fine Arts Work Center In Provincetown, The Writers Room, and PEN-where she chairs both the membership committee and the Writers Fund. Additionally she serves on the Presidents Council for Poets and Writers.
A.M. Homes was a writer/producer of the hit television show The L Word in 2004-2005 and wrote the adaptation of her first novel JACK, for Showtime. The film aired in 2004 and won an Emmy Award for Stockard Channing. Director Rose Troche's film adaptation of The Safety of Objects was released in 2003, and Troche is currently developing In A Country of Mothers as well. Music For Torching is in development with director Steven Shainberg with a script by Buck Henry, and This Book Will Save Your Life is in Development with Stone Village Pictures.
Born in Washington D.C., she now lives in New York City.
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December 4, 2024
DOMANDE SENZA RISPOSTA
Il romanzo è ambientato a New York
A.M.Homes introduce qui un tema che svilupperà poi (sempre alla sua maniera, cioè senza mai andare a fondo) nel suo romanzo-memoir La figlia dell’altra: il tema dell’abbandono e dell’adozione, che sono sua stessa esperienza di vita.
Una ventenne, Jody, è in terapia psicanalitica da Claire, che ha il doppio degli anni, è sposata, con due figli, e da ragazzina era rimasta incinta e aveva lasciato la neonata in adozione.
Se non che, nel corso delle loro sedute, la terapeuta si convince che la sua giovane paziente sia proprio la figlia che vent’anni prima ha dato in adozione. A questo punto, Claire perde la giusta distanza terapeutica e…
La Grande Mela vista dal traghetto per Staten Island
Lo spunto di partenza è ghiotto, ma Homes svapora il racconto inseguendo il thriller psicologico, usando più l’ingegneria letteraria che l’anima, attenta a calibrare gli angoli della sua costruzione più che a sostenerla con materia viva. Homes insegna scrittura creativa alla Columbia University, e si avverte chiaramente.
Un dignitoso libro americano, con il giusto rispetto del lettore, la voglia di comunicare e raccontare una storia.
Struttura solida, a suo modo classica, niente di originale: neppure l'alternanza di punti di vista, la giovane Jody e l'adulta Claire, colpisce come nuova.
C'è dietro molta frequentazione di sale cinematografiche, il che non è certo un male, ma quei lunghi e ricorrenti dialoghi sono già pronti per una sceneggiatura.
Ma siccome Jody, la giovane paziente, studia recitazione, anche Los Angeles è ben presente.
A un certo punto mi sono perso dei passaggi psicologici del personaggio giovane. Ma, credo se li sia persi Homes per prima: secondo me manca la dovuta motivazione che spinge Jody a legarsi così tanto a Claire.
Il finale diventa un po' Stephen King, c'è un salto di tensione narrativa ed emotiva, non necessariamente migliorativo (ancora sentore di cinema: Homes ha voglia di vedere il suo libro sullo schermo, non ci sono dubbi).
In un libro dove la psicologia è così centrale, mi sarei aspettato più attenzione a questo aspetto, piuttosto che favorire ritmo e suspense.
L.A., City Hall
Il nocciolo di base (l'abbandono, l'adozione) rimane sostanzialmente ancora un mistero, si spiega poco perfino in un libro scritto da persona che ha vissuto in prima persona sia l'abbandono che l'adozione.
Il che è piuttosto paradossale.
Mi sembra davvero esagerato l’entusiasmo dell’epoca del New Yorker e di Michael Cunningham, che si spinse a dire:
È una delle più coraggiose. Più impressionanti scrittrici sulla scena letteraria. Non rinuncia mai a rischiare…
In realtà, dal mio punto di vista, quello che difetta a Homes è proprio il coraggio di rischiare, il coraggio di scavare, spreca ogni buona suggestione restando all’interno di intelaiature consolidate.
Falling Water, la serie TV di cui A.M.Homes ha scritto due episodi ed è una dei numerosi produttori esecutivi, in onda dal 21 settembre 2016 su USA Network.
Il romanzo è ambientato a New York
A.M.Homes introduce qui un tema che svilupperà poi (sempre alla sua maniera, cioè senza mai andare a fondo) nel suo romanzo-memoir La figlia dell’altra: il tema dell’abbandono e dell’adozione, che sono sua stessa esperienza di vita.
Una ventenne, Jody, è in terapia psicanalitica da Claire, che ha il doppio degli anni, è sposata, con due figli, e da ragazzina era rimasta incinta e aveva lasciato la neonata in adozione.
Se non che, nel corso delle loro sedute, la terapeuta si convince che la sua giovane paziente sia proprio la figlia che vent’anni prima ha dato in adozione. A questo punto, Claire perde la giusta distanza terapeutica e…
La Grande Mela vista dal traghetto per Staten Island
Lo spunto di partenza è ghiotto, ma Homes svapora il racconto inseguendo il thriller psicologico, usando più l’ingegneria letteraria che l’anima, attenta a calibrare gli angoli della sua costruzione più che a sostenerla con materia viva. Homes insegna scrittura creativa alla Columbia University, e si avverte chiaramente.
Un dignitoso libro americano, con il giusto rispetto del lettore, la voglia di comunicare e raccontare una storia.
Struttura solida, a suo modo classica, niente di originale: neppure l'alternanza di punti di vista, la giovane Jody e l'adulta Claire, colpisce come nuova.
C'è dietro molta frequentazione di sale cinematografiche, il che non è certo un male, ma quei lunghi e ricorrenti dialoghi sono già pronti per una sceneggiatura.
Ma siccome Jody, la giovane paziente, studia recitazione, anche Los Angeles è ben presente.
A un certo punto mi sono perso dei passaggi psicologici del personaggio giovane. Ma, credo se li sia persi Homes per prima: secondo me manca la dovuta motivazione che spinge Jody a legarsi così tanto a Claire.
Il finale diventa un po' Stephen King, c'è un salto di tensione narrativa ed emotiva, non necessariamente migliorativo (ancora sentore di cinema: Homes ha voglia di vedere il suo libro sullo schermo, non ci sono dubbi).
In un libro dove la psicologia è così centrale, mi sarei aspettato più attenzione a questo aspetto, piuttosto che favorire ritmo e suspense.
L.A., City Hall
Il nocciolo di base (l'abbandono, l'adozione) rimane sostanzialmente ancora un mistero, si spiega poco perfino in un libro scritto da persona che ha vissuto in prima persona sia l'abbandono che l'adozione.
Il che è piuttosto paradossale.
Mi sembra davvero esagerato l’entusiasmo dell’epoca del New Yorker e di Michael Cunningham, che si spinse a dire:
È una delle più coraggiose. Più impressionanti scrittrici sulla scena letteraria. Non rinuncia mai a rischiare…
In realtà, dal mio punto di vista, quello che difetta a Homes è proprio il coraggio di rischiare, il coraggio di scavare, spreca ogni buona suggestione restando all’interno di intelaiature consolidate.
Falling Water, la serie TV di cui A.M.Homes ha scritto due episodi ed è una dei numerosi produttori esecutivi, in onda dal 21 settembre 2016 su USA Network.
June 27, 2021
All I have to say about this book is what the fuck was that.
April 16, 2022
Dit is een boek dat totaal buiten mijn comfortzone ligt.
Claire Roth is een therapeute, die 25 jaar geleden ongewenst zwanger werd en verplicht werd haar dochtertje af te staan voor adoptie. Ondertussen is ze getrouwd met Sam, een advokaat, en heeft twee zoontjes.
Claire krijgt een nieuwe cliënte, Jody, een 25jarige jonge vrouw die geadopteerd is bij de geboorte.
Zo gauw Jody dit verteld heeft, schenkt Claire eigenlijk niet veel aandacht meer aan de huidige problemen van Jody, maar begint haar uit te horen over hoe de adoptie in haar werk is gegaan, over haar adoptiefouders, over haar jeugd, etc.
Want Claire is ervan overtuigd dat Jody de dochter is die ooit van haar afgenomen is.
Jody voelt wel dat er iets aan de hand is, maar tegelijkertijd voelt ze zich ook enorm aangetrokken tot Claire. Ze beseft dat het niet normaal is dat Claire haar zo dikwijls wil zien, maar toch kan ze er niet aan weerstaan om in te stemmen met dagelijkse afspraken.
Claire gaat zelfs nog verder, ze begint Jody verschillende keren per dag op te bellen, laat haar kennis maken maken met haar gezin en koopt cadeautjes voor haar.
De toch al emotioneel instabiele Jody raakt steeds verwarder en kan het op den duur niet meer aan, ze loopt zelfs met zelfmoordgedachten rond en begint zichzelf pijn te doen.
En dan volgt er een climax....
Misschien was het de bedoeling dat dit een spannend boek zou zijn, maar voor mij was het eerder zenuwslopend. Ik vond de obsessieve gedachten en gedragingen van beide partijen erg vermoeiend, ik vind het moeilijk om over abnormale geestelijke kronkels te lezen.
Dit is echt niet mijn ding eigenlijk.
Claire Roth is een therapeute, die 25 jaar geleden ongewenst zwanger werd en verplicht werd haar dochtertje af te staan voor adoptie. Ondertussen is ze getrouwd met Sam, een advokaat, en heeft twee zoontjes.
Claire krijgt een nieuwe cliënte, Jody, een 25jarige jonge vrouw die geadopteerd is bij de geboorte.
Zo gauw Jody dit verteld heeft, schenkt Claire eigenlijk niet veel aandacht meer aan de huidige problemen van Jody, maar begint haar uit te horen over hoe de adoptie in haar werk is gegaan, over haar adoptiefouders, over haar jeugd, etc.
Want Claire is ervan overtuigd dat Jody de dochter is die ooit van haar afgenomen is.
Jody voelt wel dat er iets aan de hand is, maar tegelijkertijd voelt ze zich ook enorm aangetrokken tot Claire. Ze beseft dat het niet normaal is dat Claire haar zo dikwijls wil zien, maar toch kan ze er niet aan weerstaan om in te stemmen met dagelijkse afspraken.
Claire gaat zelfs nog verder, ze begint Jody verschillende keren per dag op te bellen, laat haar kennis maken maken met haar gezin en koopt cadeautjes voor haar.
De toch al emotioneel instabiele Jody raakt steeds verwarder en kan het op den duur niet meer aan, ze loopt zelfs met zelfmoordgedachten rond en begint zichzelf pijn te doen.
En dan volgt er een climax....
Misschien was het de bedoeling dat dit een spannend boek zou zijn, maar voor mij was het eerder zenuwslopend. Ik vond de obsessieve gedachten en gedragingen van beide partijen erg vermoeiend, ik vind het moeilijk om over abnormale geestelijke kronkels te lezen.
Dit is echt niet mijn ding eigenlijk.
October 29, 2010
My experience with A.M. Homes books is that they are a weird combination of 1.) scandalous, 2.) boring, and 3.) sometimes wonderful on a line by line basis, good for that one shot observation that you could have given the same words to if only you'd been smart enough to think of it first.
Exhibit for 1.) All of The End of Alice.
Exhibit for 2.) Also, somehow, all of The End of Alice, since the characters never seemed real at all to me and thus, the whole narrative was like "ennui eating scabs ennui leaking shit ennui pedophilia".
Exhibit for 3.) The part in In a Country of Mothers where twenty-four year old Jody, uninterested in having sex any longer with the man she is currently having sex with, turns her head around to tell him no and "no longer cares if this makes her look like she has two or three chins".
In fact, I was so delighted by #3 that I began to notice and to enjoy A.M. Homes' brand of feminism, which is far from preachy and rarely fulfilled or executed by her characters. Her tactic of mentioning repeatedly, but not commenting on, the fact that Claire has an unspoken expectation to provide her family of blissfully unhampered men and boys with food and schedules is great, because a woman's domestic responsibility often is assumed and yet not made mention of. I felt Claire's exhaustion without any commentary.
I know it sounds like I really enjoyed this one, especially compared to Homes' other work. And that's true, to an extent. I never thought I'd say this, given #1 above, but I reaaaally wanted this to be a little crazier than it was. If there's any author I'd rely on to make things a little crazy, it's A.M. Homes. This book let me down by having only a smattering of psychosis, even though the leg-in-heels on the front cover teased me with the possibility of a Sharon Stone/Glenn Close/SWF twist. Eh, it only cost $1. I don't regret spending that.
Exhibit for 1.) All of The End of Alice.
Exhibit for 2.) Also, somehow, all of The End of Alice, since the characters never seemed real at all to me and thus, the whole narrative was like "ennui eating scabs ennui leaking shit ennui pedophilia".
Exhibit for 3.) The part in In a Country of Mothers where twenty-four year old Jody, uninterested in having sex any longer with the man she is currently having sex with, turns her head around to tell him no and "no longer cares if this makes her look like she has two or three chins".
In fact, I was so delighted by #3 that I began to notice and to enjoy A.M. Homes' brand of feminism, which is far from preachy and rarely fulfilled or executed by her characters. Her tactic of mentioning repeatedly, but not commenting on, the fact that Claire has an unspoken expectation to provide her family of blissfully unhampered men and boys with food and schedules is great, because a woman's domestic responsibility often is assumed and yet not made mention of. I felt Claire's exhaustion without any commentary.
I know it sounds like I really enjoyed this one, especially compared to Homes' other work. And that's true, to an extent. I never thought I'd say this, given #1 above, but I reaaaally wanted this to be a little crazier than it was. If there's any author I'd rely on to make things a little crazy, it's A.M. Homes. This book let me down by having only a smattering of psychosis, even though the leg-in-heels on the front cover teased me with the possibility of a Sharon Stone/Glenn Close/SWF twist. Eh, it only cost $1. I don't regret spending that.
March 10, 2016
faccio la psicologa e mi sento sempre in colpa
il punto è spostare la colpa e risolvere quella degli altri...
spesso si sceglie una professione per motivi inconsapevoli, ma chi fa il terapeuta sa bene quali sono i motivi che lo spingono a fare quel lavoro...io lo faccio e so perchè lo faccio
Claire non ne è del tutto consapevole, ma il testo è ugualmente credibile, almeno finora
Jodi invece sembra uscita da un libro di Alice Miller
e questo, almeno per me, è un bene
prima parte fulminante, subito dopo la tensione si allenta un po', poi a un certo punto Claire sbarella e questo, anche se poco professionale, ce la rende più umana, comprensibile e persino vagamente credibile
(in realtà non so come mi sarei sentita io al suo posto, e questo è quello che la Homes vuole che ci chiediamo immagino, ma tutti
anche chi non fa il terapeuta)
Jody dalla sua ha una comprensibile paura
non solo del futuro, ma anche del presente e dei rapporti umani in generale
finale concitato e leggermente iperbolico
la storia evolve velocemente dopo la parentesi centrale
e il tutto resta sospeso nello spazio tra una fantasia e una folie a deux
nel complesso ho trovato molto più credibile Jody, sia pure con tutti i limiti della debolezza del personaggio, ma come si diceva è una paziente di Alice Miller e come tale "una bambina che riesce bene"
mentre la deriva di Claire mi è sembrata al limite del delirio,
difficile condividere la mancanza assoluta di controllo che caratterizza tutta l'ultima parte del racconto
un analista allenato può certo sbagliare, ma se non si riprende nel giro di un paio d'ore allora è messo peggio del suo paziente...
il punto è spostare la colpa e risolvere quella degli altri...
spesso si sceglie una professione per motivi inconsapevoli, ma chi fa il terapeuta sa bene quali sono i motivi che lo spingono a fare quel lavoro...io lo faccio e so perchè lo faccio
Claire non ne è del tutto consapevole, ma il testo è ugualmente credibile, almeno finora
Jodi invece sembra uscita da un libro di Alice Miller
e questo, almeno per me, è un bene
prima parte fulminante, subito dopo la tensione si allenta un po', poi a un certo punto Claire sbarella e questo, anche se poco professionale, ce la rende più umana, comprensibile e persino vagamente credibile
(in realtà non so come mi sarei sentita io al suo posto, e questo è quello che la Homes vuole che ci chiediamo immagino, ma tutti
anche chi non fa il terapeuta)
Jody dalla sua ha una comprensibile paura
non solo del futuro, ma anche del presente e dei rapporti umani in generale
finale concitato e leggermente iperbolico
la storia evolve velocemente dopo la parentesi centrale
e il tutto resta sospeso nello spazio tra una fantasia e una folie a deux
nel complesso ho trovato molto più credibile Jody, sia pure con tutti i limiti della debolezza del personaggio, ma come si diceva è una paziente di Alice Miller e come tale "una bambina che riesce bene"
mentre la deriva di Claire mi è sembrata al limite del delirio,
difficile condividere la mancanza assoluta di controllo che caratterizza tutta l'ultima parte del racconto
un analista allenato può certo sbagliare, ma se non si riprende nel giro di un paio d'ore allora è messo peggio del suo paziente...
March 16, 2020
This is vintage A.M. Homes -- dark, threatening, twisted, and profoundly engaging. I wish she was still writing books like this and The End of Alice -- you can see hints of that book's chaos, paired with her current dark-family-drama-shtick, in this -- because I think had she written this now, it would have been a masterpiece. As it stands, though, it wasn't quite as marketed: Jody definitely did not come off like she gave much of an actual shit about Claire. That may have been intentional; this was really Claire's story, I think, in the end, and the point may have been that Claire's obsession could have fixated on anyone with the right almost-birthdate -- and Jody just wanted a competent therapist. Still: as Homes so frequently does with her novels, she crafts an unsettling, wildly suspenseful environment, and puts some powerful crazy into it. The result isn't flawless, but it's consistently readable and potent. And we LOVE an A.M. Homes wild ride in this house.
September 6, 2009
This is a frustrating story about a young woman, Jody, who makes an appointment with a new therapist, Claire Roth. They hit it off surprisingly well, in part because Jody tells of her adoption twenty-something years ago; Claire put a little girl up for adoption around that same time. As their relationship grows as client/therapist, Claire begins to have feelings for Jody that could be described as somewhat maternal, leaving Claire to begin to wonder if Jody was the child she had given up so many years ago. In an effort to strengthen the possible mother/daughter bond she invites Jody into her life with her husband and sons. Jody's relationship with her own adopted mother is a complicated one, so Jody is in position to want for a better maternal experience.
What makes the story frustrating (because it certainly is written well and is interesting) is how easily Claire throws away her role as a therapist in order to get closer to Jody. She uses her position as a therapist at one point to gain medical information on Jody, ostensibly to treat her, but more out of maternal concern for her possible daughter. This is my first book by Homes, but something tells me maybe this is how Homes does it. Her stories may all be a little disconcerting, so until I read anything else I'll reserve further judgment on Claire's level of inappropriateness as a therapist.
What makes the story frustrating (because it certainly is written well and is interesting) is how easily Claire throws away her role as a therapist in order to get closer to Jody. She uses her position as a therapist at one point to gain medical information on Jody, ostensibly to treat her, but more out of maternal concern for her possible daughter. This is my first book by Homes, but something tells me maybe this is how Homes does it. Her stories may all be a little disconcerting, so until I read anything else I'll reserve further judgment on Claire's level of inappropriateness as a therapist.
October 27, 2010
As a general rule, I hate A.M. Holmes. I mean, I get what she's trying to do, ('Are these allegories? Bad fiction? Or am I trying to say that life is so godawful that when you write about it 'realistically' it reads like a really, really terrible novel?') but it comes across to me as atrocious writing. This one gets points for addressing a lot of the truly horrific misogynist practices left in the world, even if it does so in poorly crafted prose.
September 26, 2012
I wasn't able to finish this. I don't mind a book that makes me feel uncomfortable--sometimes that can be good. Homes often writes about the awkward, the squeamish, and I have liked a few of her other (later?) books. There's plenty about this novel that would typically make me squirm, like the breach of the ever sensitive client/mental health practitioner relationship, or the trope of the "ruined woman" post-abortion/adoption--both are present here. Instead of effectively working the discomfort to turn the story on its head, Homes' flat prose and underdeveloped characters serve only to irritate.
I know that Homes was adopted herself, so it's interesting to read about the feelings of the birth mother: feelings which are, at least as far as I've seen, more prominent than that of the adopted child. I guess I just don't care to read stories where women are ~damaged~ due to the reproductive choices they made decades ago.
I know that Homes was adopted herself, so it's interesting to read about the feelings of the birth mother: feelings which are, at least as far as I've seen, more prominent than that of the adopted child. I guess I just don't care to read stories where women are ~damaged~ due to the reproductive choices they made decades ago.
August 5, 2011
i have kind of a love/like relationship with a.m. homes. sometimes i love her work, sometimes it bores the hell out of me. this one was was more in the middle. i liked it enough, but something wasn't ringing true here, and when i found out she borrowed heavily from her own story of being adopted, i figured that must be it. maybe the subject matter was too close for her to be able to write in a completely authentic way about a situation where a psychologist gets too close to a patient that she believes might be the daughter she once gave up. the story moved along pretty well, but at the end i had a hard time believing the way these characters were acting.
read "this book will save your life" it's loads better.
read "this book will save your life" it's loads better.
September 26, 2011
This book held my interest with strong characterization, humor, an engrossing situation, vivid writing. Then at the end everything fell apart. I felt sad for the two main characters but found them less believable. Instead of moving toward integration, or even tragedy, each woman became almost a caricature of disintegration.
February 28, 2014
What is there to say about this book? It was a wildly uncomfortable read. Claire, a therapist crosses one line after another with her client Jody. And when things really hit the fever-pitch, it just wasn't enough, it didn't go far enough. There weren't consequences.
And it was kind of boring between pacing and a handful of good one-liners. Too bad.
And it was kind of boring between pacing and a handful of good one-liners. Too bad.
October 22, 2016
I didn't care for this much. The issues were never really resolved and the ending left things hanging.
July 23, 2017
i have kind of a love/like relationship with a.m. homes. sometimes i love her work, sometimes it bores the hell out of me. this one was was more in the middle. i liked it enough, but something wasn't ringing true here, and when i found out she borrowed heavily from her own story of being adopted, i figured that must be it. maybe the subject matter was too close for her to be able to write in a completely authentic way about a situation where a psychologist gets too close to a patient that she believes might be the daughter she once gave up. the story moved along pretty well, but at the end i had a hard time believing the way these characters were acting. read "this book will save your life" it's loads better.
January 6, 2013
I honestly don't know what to say yet about this book. It's clearly more than I bargained for. It has left me not being able to sleep and to be involved in self-evaluation. The relationship of Claire, the therapist and Jody, the client is well beyond what is healthy for either of them, but they are not silly people. They know so much of what is bad for them, but they are pressed, willingly into a relationship that destroys much of their internal sanity. Both have incredible chinks in their emotional armor, but they are able in their own way, although they are scarred. Possessors of incredible attractiveness, they are bitterly aware of the lacks in their lives. As a man, I'm bothered by Homes' awareness of sex. She knows men. She also knows women and their needs. Much of this means giving up your preconceived fantasies about women. It involves you, willingly or not in the same experience the characters are going through. It's a very good book.
June 23, 2013
A very odd selection for me since I'm not one who's overly interested in the mother daughter relationship. But I chose this book because Homes is one of my favorite authors. Despite not being able to relate to Claire's desire for a daughter nor Jody's unconscious need for a more present mother, I was still able to find the characterization of each extremely authentic! Although this book lacked some of the shock value of her other works, I still thoroughly enjoyed the complex and developing relationship between the two protagonists. I also love how Homes writes about my hometown of "the Hamptons" with such accuracy allowing me to understand some of these situations on a very personal level. Not a five star work only because it lacked the bizarre element I've come to enjoy in her works.
June 12, 2016
A M Homes writes things other authors are too scared to go near: those moments of pure hatred one person can feel for another, for example. This lifts a so-so story to near-greatness, her preparedness to twist a story in exactly the most painful way, and to leave ends untied and suffering unallayed, these things keep us turning the pages. The story is of a psychotherapist who is ultimately too damaged, too victimised, to truly heal anyone, and the excruciating descriptions of transference and counter transference are genuinely upsetting. For all this, it's an enjoyable read with some great comic moments, and I recommend it.
December 31, 2009
I'd actually like to give this 3.5 stars but one can't so...4 it is.
I loved this book for most of the way through but became a little impatient with the two main characters towards the end.
It's a well written book about the relationship between a therapist and her young female client.
The novel gets a little twisted towards the last couple of chapters but I won't say any more about that.
I think I'll check out more books by A.M.Homes, she's a good writer.
My last book of 2009!
I loved this book for most of the way through but became a little impatient with the two main characters towards the end.
It's a well written book about the relationship between a therapist and her young female client.
The novel gets a little twisted towards the last couple of chapters but I won't say any more about that.
I think I'll check out more books by A.M.Homes, she's a good writer.
My last book of 2009!
May 25, 2011
3.5 but I'll go 4.
It's been awhile since a book has left me feeling so off kilter. Right from the start I was into the story. As I got further into the book I began to get more and more sucked into the characters and their burgeoning relationship and I was having a hard time putting it down. Well, as things began to turn, obsessive is what comes to mind, it was so uncomfortable for me to keep reading. And still, it's definitely one of those books that I'll continue to think about.
It's been awhile since a book has left me feeling so off kilter. Right from the start I was into the story. As I got further into the book I began to get more and more sucked into the characters and their burgeoning relationship and I was having a hard time putting it down. Well, as things began to turn, obsessive is what comes to mind, it was so uncomfortable for me to keep reading. And still, it's definitely one of those books that I'll continue to think about.
July 3, 2008
My girlfriend, A.M. Holmes, has this way of leaving me feeling completely dejected and empty at the end of her books. That is why I love her so.
This book is about a girl and her psychologist. The psychologist starts to believe that her patient is her daughter that she gave up for adoption when she was young. Of course, it spirals into obsession and weirdness that only A.M. Homes can create.
This book is about a girl and her psychologist. The psychologist starts to believe that her patient is her daughter that she gave up for adoption when she was young. Of course, it spirals into obsession and weirdness that only A.M. Homes can create.
October 3, 2011
Boring, boring, boring, boring. A quick read, read almost all of it in one day, the writing was good, the story was boring. There was only one exciting part in the book almost at the end that lasted for half a page and then it wasn't mentioned again. The book ended like the author ran out of paper. I would not reccommend this, there are much better books out there...
January 22, 2013
A shrink convinces herself that one of her patients (who was adopted at birth) is her lost daughter that she gave up for adoption 25 years earlier. Lots of transference, counter transference, codependency and plain old craziness in both women. A psychology creepy book about mothers, daughter and sanity. I loved it.
February 5, 2016
I wanted to finish this and also don't want to finish it. I don't know, I have better things to do than read upwards of a hundred more pages of this. I skimmed to the end and its dramatic but it wouldn't be a surprise now, so there's no reason to finish it, at least not now. Maybe one day I'll come back to it.
November 19, 2018
Definitely not as compelling as This Book Will Save Your Life or May We Be Forgiven, but it is well written and an interesting story which keeps you going to the end.
June 6, 2018
Livre lu dans le cadre du club de lecture de mai 2017 - Librairie L'Attrape-Mots.
Epigraphe :
Remplace-le par moi
Remplace mon gin par du Coca.
Remplace ma mère,
Qu'au moins ma lessive soit faite.
Peter Townshend (guitariste et compositeur du groupe de rock The Who)
Claire est psychiatre à New York. Elle a réussi sa carrière et a une famille adorable : un mari aimant et deux garçons épanouis. Elle se persuade que sa nouvelle patiente, Jody, est la fille qu'elle a abandonnée vingt-cinq ans plus tôt. Simple coïncidence ou pas, Jody est née à quelques jours près, dans la même maternité que Claire et adoptée à sa naissance. Claire n'avait pas eu le choix : elle était mineure.
Ce geste la hante et la ronge depuis. D'où cette idée folle émergeant, dans le cerveau de Claire, lors de la première consultation avec Jody.
"Si elle avait une fille, si sa fille était là, elle serait revenue à la maison avec Claire. Elle se serait glissée dans le lit de sa mère et y aurait passé l'après-midi, à lire des magazines et à boire des granités de yoghourt. Si sa fille était là, elles prendraient la voiture et iraient courir les magasins, les antiquaires et les brocantes de Sag Harbor. Elles sortiraient déjeuner et laisseraient Sam et les garçons se débrouiller seuls." (page 244).
Entre les deux femmes se noue une relation toxique. Et le lecteur découvre que la plus névrosée n'est pas celle qu'il pourrait supposer.
"La perpective de revoir Claire l'angoissait. Ce qui s'était passé entre elles avait été roboratif, mais la fin de leur relation l'avait soulagée. La passion dont Claire s'était prise pour son cas était presque inquiétante. Mais elle se conduisait d'une façon si naturelle que Jody se trouvait mesquine et se reprochait son sentiment de malaise." (page 334).
La relation devient addictive, de plus en plus nocive, du côté de Claire.
"La lettre lue, Claire téléphona aussitôt à Jody. Elles eurent une longue conversation, rirent beaucoup. Jody lui appartenait, même si elle était à Los Angeles. Elle lui appartiendrait toujours.
Claire prit l'habitude de téléphoner à Jody une ou deux fois par semaine, entre les séances, pour se détendre et se remonter le moral." (page 276).
Cette idée devient tellement obsessionnelle qu'elle est prête à sacrifier sa famille. Elle est à la limite de la folie.
"Claire s'arrêta sur le bord de la route, à côté de l'allée. Elle n'avait plus envie de montrer la maison à Sam. Elle avait l'impression qu'il allait la lui prendre.... Claire pleurait pour de bon. Sur Sam, la maison, Jody. Sur tout. Un désert, sans rien, sans personne, voilà ce qu'elle désirait. (Elle) réfléchissait au moyen de reprendre les rênes de sa vie. Se débarrasser de Sam, des enfants, de l'appartement. Oublier Jody. Se prendre un studio en ville, ou en banlieue, aucune importance." (page 379).
Ce que veut nous dire l'auteur (à mon avis) est que Claire est trop névrosée pour exercer le métier de psychiatre. Elle n'a pas encore réglé son propre traumatisme (l'abandon de sa petite fille à la maternité). Comment pourrait-elle être efficace pour soigner ses propres patients ?
Un autre thème est abordé en filigrane : les liens familiaux réels ou fantasmés. Ceux-ci peuvent être très problématiques et, pourtant, nous ne pouvons pas nous en départir. Jody s'entend assez mal avec sa mère biologique. Claire a des difficultés à éduquer ses deux garçons.
"- Vous (Jody) éprouvez des difficultés à parler de votre famille ?
- Pas du tout. C'est comme Hollywood Chewing-Gum. "La fraîcheur de vivre !"" (page 113)
" Lorsque Jody la pria de demander une couverture à l'hôtesse, elle la regarda, bouche bée. Jody la détesta. Elle détestait cette mère, car elle se révélait incompétente, et ne pouvait ou ne voulait l'aider en rien." (page 303).
" - On est comme deux amies, non ?
- Des amies, j'en ai, dit Jody. Sois ma mère." (page 339).
A.M. Homes (Amy Michael Homes) s'attaque, dans son roman, à la condition féminine, à la maternité et à la psychanalyse. Elle a été elle-même abandonnée par ses parents biologiques. Elle ne les a rencontrés qu'à l'âge de trente et un ans.
Ce qui explique, entre autre, l'oeuvre d'A.M. Homes ; peuplée par les questions sur les rapports entre parents et enfants ; sur l'identité aussi.
A.M. Homes vit à New York. "Mauvaise mère" est son premier roman, paru en 1997.
Epigraphe :
Remplace-le par moi
Remplace mon gin par du Coca.
Remplace ma mère,
Qu'au moins ma lessive soit faite.
Peter Townshend (guitariste et compositeur du groupe de rock The Who)
Claire est psychiatre à New York. Elle a réussi sa carrière et a une famille adorable : un mari aimant et deux garçons épanouis. Elle se persuade que sa nouvelle patiente, Jody, est la fille qu'elle a abandonnée vingt-cinq ans plus tôt. Simple coïncidence ou pas, Jody est née à quelques jours près, dans la même maternité que Claire et adoptée à sa naissance. Claire n'avait pas eu le choix : elle était mineure.
Ce geste la hante et la ronge depuis. D'où cette idée folle émergeant, dans le cerveau de Claire, lors de la première consultation avec Jody.
"Si elle avait une fille, si sa fille était là, elle serait revenue à la maison avec Claire. Elle se serait glissée dans le lit de sa mère et y aurait passé l'après-midi, à lire des magazines et à boire des granités de yoghourt. Si sa fille était là, elles prendraient la voiture et iraient courir les magasins, les antiquaires et les brocantes de Sag Harbor. Elles sortiraient déjeuner et laisseraient Sam et les garçons se débrouiller seuls." (page 244).
Entre les deux femmes se noue une relation toxique. Et le lecteur découvre que la plus névrosée n'est pas celle qu'il pourrait supposer.
"La perpective de revoir Claire l'angoissait. Ce qui s'était passé entre elles avait été roboratif, mais la fin de leur relation l'avait soulagée. La passion dont Claire s'était prise pour son cas était presque inquiétante. Mais elle se conduisait d'une façon si naturelle que Jody se trouvait mesquine et se reprochait son sentiment de malaise." (page 334).
La relation devient addictive, de plus en plus nocive, du côté de Claire.
"La lettre lue, Claire téléphona aussitôt à Jody. Elles eurent une longue conversation, rirent beaucoup. Jody lui appartenait, même si elle était à Los Angeles. Elle lui appartiendrait toujours.
Claire prit l'habitude de téléphoner à Jody une ou deux fois par semaine, entre les séances, pour se détendre et se remonter le moral." (page 276).
Cette idée devient tellement obsessionnelle qu'elle est prête à sacrifier sa famille. Elle est à la limite de la folie.
"Claire s'arrêta sur le bord de la route, à côté de l'allée. Elle n'avait plus envie de montrer la maison à Sam. Elle avait l'impression qu'il allait la lui prendre.... Claire pleurait pour de bon. Sur Sam, la maison, Jody. Sur tout. Un désert, sans rien, sans personne, voilà ce qu'elle désirait. (Elle) réfléchissait au moyen de reprendre les rênes de sa vie. Se débarrasser de Sam, des enfants, de l'appartement. Oublier Jody. Se prendre un studio en ville, ou en banlieue, aucune importance." (page 379).
Ce que veut nous dire l'auteur (à mon avis) est que Claire est trop névrosée pour exercer le métier de psychiatre. Elle n'a pas encore réglé son propre traumatisme (l'abandon de sa petite fille à la maternité). Comment pourrait-elle être efficace pour soigner ses propres patients ?
Un autre thème est abordé en filigrane : les liens familiaux réels ou fantasmés. Ceux-ci peuvent être très problématiques et, pourtant, nous ne pouvons pas nous en départir. Jody s'entend assez mal avec sa mère biologique. Claire a des difficultés à éduquer ses deux garçons.
"- Vous (Jody) éprouvez des difficultés à parler de votre famille ?
- Pas du tout. C'est comme Hollywood Chewing-Gum. "La fraîcheur de vivre !"" (page 113)
" Lorsque Jody la pria de demander une couverture à l'hôtesse, elle la regarda, bouche bée. Jody la détesta. Elle détestait cette mère, car elle se révélait incompétente, et ne pouvait ou ne voulait l'aider en rien." (page 303).
" - On est comme deux amies, non ?
- Des amies, j'en ai, dit Jody. Sois ma mère." (page 339).
A.M. Homes (Amy Michael Homes) s'attaque, dans son roman, à la condition féminine, à la maternité et à la psychanalyse. Elle a été elle-même abandonnée par ses parents biologiques. Elle ne les a rencontrés qu'à l'âge de trente et un ans.
Ce qui explique, entre autre, l'oeuvre d'A.M. Homes ; peuplée par les questions sur les rapports entre parents et enfants ; sur l'identité aussi.
A.M. Homes vit à New York. "Mauvaise mère" est son premier roman, paru en 1997.
March 4, 2023
written June 1994
What is there good to say about this book? It is a quick read: I started it yesterday waiting for the carpet man to arrive and finished it this morning before breakfast. No one got killed or killed herself. It has some interesting scenes early on featuring a movie shoot. It must be by a female author and features two leading female characters. It's about an adopted daughter caught unawares in a tug of war between potential mothers. It's about a patient in therapy whose relationship with her therapist turns weird for both of them and ends up doing what seems to be permanent damage to both. It begins with lots of people in pretty good shape and ends up with several lives and families pretty totally screwed up and at least one person, the patient, in serious trouble physically and psychically. And I seem to have run out of positive things to say.
What do I not like about this book? It seems too fast and facile. All the chapters are short, too short sometimes to develop the events being portrayed. The time jumps seem arbitrary: here is Jody in trouble; don't you wonder what will happen in the next moment, how she will get through the night? JUMP: here is Jody three months later, with no clue for you of what happened day to day since her last crisis. The reader's attention is split between two important characters, rather than being shared between them. Rather than caring about two, I ended up caring about neither. Their situation -- a therapist who mourns and longs and searches for her lost child, and a patient who wants both more independence and more nurturing than she is getting -- is serious and full of potential pathos. Why don't I feel it? It must be the writing.
Is it just me, or does this feel like the tv movie-of-the-week? or Fatal Attraction between two mothers for a daughter rather than between two women for a man? or a public service announcement by a disgruntled patient warning us all of the dangers of therapists?
I also get tired of the sex scenes - how is that possible? One reviewer was turned off by the sex in Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow, but there it seemed to me to reveal something, how two fiercely alone people with glacier-like movements slowly thawed out their hearts as their icebergish bodies bumped into each other. Here I see no thaw, no love, not even good lust. Maybe this is how a woman feels sex on a bad date or in a bad marriage, but it's really hard to take. I miss affection, or non-destructive passion, in this book's couplings. Remember that respite at the beach, that Claire and Sam have (167)? It feels like a visit to another planet. Jody gets one experience like that too (245), but of course it ends on the same page when she discovers (like Claire did with Prof. Mark Ein years earlier) that when it is good the guy must be already taken. My problem with Claire's marriage is that I like her husband - he seems like a pretty good guy, considering, and his reactions seem sane compared to hers. So how am I supposed to keep sympathizing with this woman, who keeps hearing the truth from everyone around her -- her husband, her own therapist, even her one-dimensional friend Naomi -- but keeps denying it. She hates her life, her patients, her kids. It's hard not to return the feeling.
What is there good to say about this book? It is a quick read: I started it yesterday waiting for the carpet man to arrive and finished it this morning before breakfast. No one got killed or killed herself. It has some interesting scenes early on featuring a movie shoot. It must be by a female author and features two leading female characters. It's about an adopted daughter caught unawares in a tug of war between potential mothers. It's about a patient in therapy whose relationship with her therapist turns weird for both of them and ends up doing what seems to be permanent damage to both. It begins with lots of people in pretty good shape and ends up with several lives and families pretty totally screwed up and at least one person, the patient, in serious trouble physically and psychically. And I seem to have run out of positive things to say.
What do I not like about this book? It seems too fast and facile. All the chapters are short, too short sometimes to develop the events being portrayed. The time jumps seem arbitrary: here is Jody in trouble; don't you wonder what will happen in the next moment, how she will get through the night? JUMP: here is Jody three months later, with no clue for you of what happened day to day since her last crisis. The reader's attention is split between two important characters, rather than being shared between them. Rather than caring about two, I ended up caring about neither. Their situation -- a therapist who mourns and longs and searches for her lost child, and a patient who wants both more independence and more nurturing than she is getting -- is serious and full of potential pathos. Why don't I feel it? It must be the writing.
Is it just me, or does this feel like the tv movie-of-the-week? or Fatal Attraction between two mothers for a daughter rather than between two women for a man? or a public service announcement by a disgruntled patient warning us all of the dangers of therapists?
I also get tired of the sex scenes - how is that possible? One reviewer was turned off by the sex in Hoeg's Smilla's Sense of Snow, but there it seemed to me to reveal something, how two fiercely alone people with glacier-like movements slowly thawed out their hearts as their icebergish bodies bumped into each other. Here I see no thaw, no love, not even good lust. Maybe this is how a woman feels sex on a bad date or in a bad marriage, but it's really hard to take. I miss affection, or non-destructive passion, in this book's couplings. Remember that respite at the beach, that Claire and Sam have (167)? It feels like a visit to another planet. Jody gets one experience like that too (245), but of course it ends on the same page when she discovers (like Claire did with Prof. Mark Ein years earlier) that when it is good the guy must be already taken. My problem with Claire's marriage is that I like her husband - he seems like a pretty good guy, considering, and his reactions seem sane compared to hers. So how am I supposed to keep sympathizing with this woman, who keeps hearing the truth from everyone around her -- her husband, her own therapist, even her one-dimensional friend Naomi -- but keeps denying it. She hates her life, her patients, her kids. It's hard not to return the feeling.
November 25, 2018
I don't tend read books in a couple of days, this is the first of her books that hooked me enough to keep going back. Given the content is coming from a huge amount of personal experience, the authenticity of this is overwhelming. Both characters (Jody and Claire) are fleshed out as fully as they can be, both are horribly flawed and play as sympathetic and antagonists to each other. The very essence of a toxic relationship coming out of a counter transference doctor/patient situation builds all the tension. The ambiguity surrounding Jody's illness adds to the drama, as well as Claire's marital problems. Her interactions with Jody cross so many boundaries but are still presented as understandable and genuine. I didn't feel Claire being involved in another patient's drama was inauthentic or there to compare/contrast to Claire's own experience. She could have easily recounted her own nightmare without getting so involved in the patient's.
This is a book where you have to pay some attention to when it was written. The attitudes to some social constructs are rooted in that period, not now, so there are ideas that are understandable but harder to stomach when viewed through a 2018 lens. I felt the ending was slightly rushed and the style grew slightly more simplistic towards the end, but I wasn't entirely disappointed by this.
All that aside, this is probably my second favourite book from Homes.
This is a book where you have to pay some attention to when it was written. The attitudes to some social constructs are rooted in that period, not now, so there are ideas that are understandable but harder to stomach when viewed through a 2018 lens. I felt the ending was slightly rushed and the style grew slightly more simplistic towards the end, but I wasn't entirely disappointed by this.
All that aside, this is probably my second favourite book from Homes.
April 6, 2019
J’ai acheté ce livre au Salon du livre de Paris (et il n’aura pas traîné longtemps dans ma PAL :) J’étais restée un moment sur le stand de Babel, aimantée par leurs jolies couvertures !
Cette histoire parle de deux femmes : Claire, psy d’une quarantaine d’années, mariée, deux enfants, et qui a abandonné un enfant une vingtaine d’années plus tôt. Et Jody, vingt ans, étudiantes, qui entreprend une psychanalyse pour mieux comprendre quel chemin doit prendre ses études.
Un lien relativement pervers se noue entre les deux femmes…
Je ne sais pas trop si j’ai aimé, en revanche je ne pense pas qu’il me laissera un souvenir prégnant. J’ai aimé l’histoire mais j’ai en même temps l’impression d’être passée un peu à côté (pourquoi l’une des deux ne coupe-t-elle pas les points pour mettre fin à cette étrange relation patient/psy ?).
J’avais lu il y a quelques années « Ce livre va vous sauver la vie », de la même auteure, j’en garde une meilleure souvenir que « Mauvaise mère » (j’ai le souvenir d’un livre drôle, mais je ne me souviens pas de l’histoire en détail).
#mauvaisemere #inacountryofmothers #amhomes #babel #babeleditions #salondulivre #salondulivreparis
#bookstagram #livre #libri #instalivre #instalecture #booklover #bookaholic #bookphotography #bookworm #bookaholic #books📚 #bookcommunity #bookclub #whattoreadnext #bookaddict #beautifulbooks #bookcollector #bookobsessed #booksaremylife #booknerds #mylibrary
Cette histoire parle de deux femmes : Claire, psy d’une quarantaine d’années, mariée, deux enfants, et qui a abandonné un enfant une vingtaine d’années plus tôt. Et Jody, vingt ans, étudiantes, qui entreprend une psychanalyse pour mieux comprendre quel chemin doit prendre ses études.
Un lien relativement pervers se noue entre les deux femmes…
Je ne sais pas trop si j’ai aimé, en revanche je ne pense pas qu’il me laissera un souvenir prégnant. J’ai aimé l’histoire mais j’ai en même temps l’impression d’être passée un peu à côté (pourquoi l’une des deux ne coupe-t-elle pas les points pour mettre fin à cette étrange relation patient/psy ?).
J’avais lu il y a quelques années « Ce livre va vous sauver la vie », de la même auteure, j’en garde une meilleure souvenir que « Mauvaise mère » (j’ai le souvenir d’un livre drôle, mais je ne me souviens pas de l’histoire en détail).
#mauvaisemere #inacountryofmothers #amhomes #babel #babeleditions #salondulivre #salondulivreparis
#bookstagram #livre #libri #instalivre #instalecture #booklover #bookaholic #bookphotography #bookworm #bookaholic #books📚 #bookcommunity #bookclub #whattoreadnext #bookaddict #beautifulbooks #bookcollector #bookobsessed #booksaremylife #booknerds #mylibrary
February 28, 2024
It's rare that I finish a book that I give only two stars to. This book was readable enough that I did finish it, but the story didn't really make sense. There are two protagonists – Jody, a young unattached woman, and Claire, a therapist, who is in her 40s, is married, and has two children. Neither protagonist is particularly appealing. Claire is Jody's therapist; at the same time, Claire sees a professor who's also a therapist, though that relationship sort of disappears from the book. Instead the novel focuses on the Claire-Jody relationship, which becomes increasingly weird & unhealthy. The story goes on... and then at some point the story ends, with nothing resolved.
April 7, 2022
Got a lot of love for A M Homes. She's just so damned readable and In a Country of Mothers is no exception.
What I really liked about this one is that, a few chapters in, it seemed to be predictable, heading in an obvious direction. Homes, in typical fashion, turns everything on its head and ramps everything up a gear.
There's a really clever and subtle twist in the narrative as this book progresses, as more boundaries are crossed in the relationship between the two main female characters; fantasy and desire melds into fixation and obsession.
What I really liked about this one is that, a few chapters in, it seemed to be predictable, heading in an obvious direction. Homes, in typical fashion, turns everything on its head and ramps everything up a gear.
There's a really clever and subtle twist in the narrative as this book progresses, as more boundaries are crossed in the relationship between the two main female characters; fantasy and desire melds into fixation and obsession.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews