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A Mother's Tale
A gripping novel that finds beauty in the bleakest of circumstances.
168 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2008
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Erik Simon
3 books162 followersRaised in southern Illinois, Erik Simon is a freelance writer and consultant living in the New York area.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2008
I met Erik here on GoodReads and we've had a lot of nice conversations, some of them about books, some of them about Cornhuskers. Those with canny eyes will notice that he was generous enough to give an enthusiastic review to one of my books, so I need to be upfront and preface my comments here with a statement: I do not logroll. Nuff said.
The pleasure of reading A Mother's Tale lies in the suspense. The back book jacket promises "one of the most astonishing endings in recent fiction," so inevitably readers begin from Paragraph 1 trying to predict what will constitute said astonishment. This can be a burden for a novel to carry, for some smarty-pants readers will inevitably say "I saw it coming all along," regardless of whether or not they did. In all honesty, I didn't see the ending coming, and forty years of reading have given me a pretty intuitive eye for the Big Wrap-Up Coming Down the Road. I was certainly guessing---wrongly---thanks to what strike me as some clever red herrings. (Or maybe I've just taught for too long and sniff for foreshadowings). So I invite other readers to test the book out for this. My guess is you won't predict the ending either.
A second danger of writing a narrative that promises a wallop at the end is that character becomes subordinate to the pushing through of plot. That's not the case here. In fact, the plot unfolds through the voices of the characters, which are offered in multiple first-person perspectives a la As I Lay Dying. (Erik will claim The Sound and the Fury as his inspiration, but A Mother's Tale names each after after the character telling it, just like Dying). There are a trio of characters here: a daughter, a mother, and a mysterious man discovered in their yard. Each voice is distinct, lyrical, and rhythmic. I especially appreciated how the voice of Jimmy (the daughter) avoided the twin perils of writing as a rural teenager: there are no faux hillbillyisms (dialect) of the Huck Finn variety, nor are there what I call "anointed-adolescentisms" in which a "touched" young person offers saint-like insight into hypocrises we adults are too corrupt to appreciate. Instead, the voice is delightfully shorn of attitude and naifdom and therefore feels authentic. I also loved the chapter that details Jimmy's mother's background---it reveals the mystery of just who Jimmy's father is and, in retrospect, explains the ending.
And now a paragraph to really show I'm not logrolling: If I were forced to mention a few things I might object to---just to prove my objectivity---I would say some of the motifs associated the rural setting are maybe too familiar. I myself would have avoided any mention of strippers, Jesus, and clotheslines. Then again, those things are woven deep in the fabric of country life, and to take them out is a little like taking the I out of Indiana (or the ask out of Nebraska). They're part of the idiom.
In short, a well-constructed novel, compelling in characterization, and deft in the way it teases the reader into partaking of the suspense. Highly recommended.
The pleasure of reading A Mother's Tale lies in the suspense. The back book jacket promises "one of the most astonishing endings in recent fiction," so inevitably readers begin from Paragraph 1 trying to predict what will constitute said astonishment. This can be a burden for a novel to carry, for some smarty-pants readers will inevitably say "I saw it coming all along," regardless of whether or not they did. In all honesty, I didn't see the ending coming, and forty years of reading have given me a pretty intuitive eye for the Big Wrap-Up Coming Down the Road. I was certainly guessing---wrongly---thanks to what strike me as some clever red herrings. (Or maybe I've just taught for too long and sniff for foreshadowings). So I invite other readers to test the book out for this. My guess is you won't predict the ending either.
A second danger of writing a narrative that promises a wallop at the end is that character becomes subordinate to the pushing through of plot. That's not the case here. In fact, the plot unfolds through the voices of the characters, which are offered in multiple first-person perspectives a la As I Lay Dying. (Erik will claim The Sound and the Fury as his inspiration, but A Mother's Tale names each after after the character telling it, just like Dying). There are a trio of characters here: a daughter, a mother, and a mysterious man discovered in their yard. Each voice is distinct, lyrical, and rhythmic. I especially appreciated how the voice of Jimmy (the daughter) avoided the twin perils of writing as a rural teenager: there are no faux hillbillyisms (dialect) of the Huck Finn variety, nor are there what I call "anointed-adolescentisms" in which a "touched" young person offers saint-like insight into hypocrises we adults are too corrupt to appreciate. Instead, the voice is delightfully shorn of attitude and naifdom and therefore feels authentic. I also loved the chapter that details Jimmy's mother's background---it reveals the mystery of just who Jimmy's father is and, in retrospect, explains the ending.
And now a paragraph to really show I'm not logrolling: If I were forced to mention a few things I might object to---just to prove my objectivity---I would say some of the motifs associated the rural setting are maybe too familiar. I myself would have avoided any mention of strippers, Jesus, and clotheslines. Then again, those things are woven deep in the fabric of country life, and to take them out is a little like taking the I out of Indiana (or the ask out of Nebraska). They're part of the idiom.
In short, a well-constructed novel, compelling in characterization, and deft in the way it teases the reader into partaking of the suspense. Highly recommended.
August 7, 2009
There are some really screwed up people in this world, an this book is about some of the most messed up people I've ever heard of. I'm so glad they're fictional, but I fear there may really be people like them out there. The ending was quite shocking and made me feel very icky.
As horrible as the characters are and as nasty as the ending is, A Mother's Tale is beautifully written. Erik Simon packs a lot of story into 167 pages and the narrative makes you keep turning the pages, no matter what. I have no idea where this book takes place, but I kept hearing the narration with a Southern accent. However, it could take place in any poor, rural part of the US. I felt so much sympathy for Jimmy because she didn't stand a chance of getting anywhere in life with her deficient mother. The mother, Junie, has no idea how warped her relationship with her daughter is.
A Mother's Tale is compelling, dark and disturbing. It's an excellent book, but it's not for everyone.
As horrible as the characters are and as nasty as the ending is, A Mother's Tale is beautifully written. Erik Simon packs a lot of story into 167 pages and the narrative makes you keep turning the pages, no matter what. I have no idea where this book takes place, but I kept hearing the narration with a Southern accent. However, it could take place in any poor, rural part of the US. I felt so much sympathy for Jimmy because she didn't stand a chance of getting anywhere in life with her deficient mother. The mother, Junie, has no idea how warped her relationship with her daughter is.
A Mother's Tale is compelling, dark and disturbing. It's an excellent book, but it's not for everyone.
June 7, 2008
A compelling read and masterful example of how voice and character can work as catalysts of story. There's a mystical quality to the setting and situations in this book that I really responded to, and could possibly have used more of (but that's very much a personal taste thing).
This book tells the stories of three people, a girl, her mother, and the stranger who they find splayed out in their yard one morning in the rain. The story unfolds in a series of point of view sections from each of the characters, and Simon does a great job of relaying the same events through different eyes. It's not as fractured as I may have just made it sound, as this is not a work of post-modern deconstruction. I simply mean that each character has a unique take on what happens, their perspectives informed by their own histories, views of themselves and their situations, and longings.
The prose is clear and the setting well realized. It reminded me of something akin to theater magic, as most of the action takes place in the same small setting, but a larger world is created by the interactions and backstories of the characters.
The ending, without giving too much away, is somehow both shocking and inevitable. It disturbed me, but didn't feel forced by the time I got to it.
A goodread, indeed, and by a Goodreads author. Excellent work, Mr. Simon!
This book tells the stories of three people, a girl, her mother, and the stranger who they find splayed out in their yard one morning in the rain. The story unfolds in a series of point of view sections from each of the characters, and Simon does a great job of relaying the same events through different eyes. It's not as fractured as I may have just made it sound, as this is not a work of post-modern deconstruction. I simply mean that each character has a unique take on what happens, their perspectives informed by their own histories, views of themselves and their situations, and longings.
The prose is clear and the setting well realized. It reminded me of something akin to theater magic, as most of the action takes place in the same small setting, but a larger world is created by the interactions and backstories of the characters.
The ending, without giving too much away, is somehow both shocking and inevitable. It disturbed me, but didn't feel forced by the time I got to it.
A goodread, indeed, and by a Goodreads author. Excellent work, Mr. Simon!
September 17, 2008
Initially I hoped to to give this novel a five-star rating. The author skillfully paints a visual picture with his words. At first, I have great compassion for the poorest of poor 13 year old girl, her mother, and the stranger who mysteriously shows up passed out in the pouring rain by their mailbox. But, as the storyline unfolds, it attempts to justify the actions of white trash. While descriptions are not pornographic, the story is definitely sexual in nature. The storytelling skills of the author had led me to hope for an intriguing read; in the end I was disappointed.
March 26, 2012
Initially, I was drawn into this story because I felt it was interesting that a male author could capture the essence of an adolescent female. After reading for awhile, I came to the conclusion that this story seemed as though it was written as a senior project for a creative writing degree by the author, Erik Simon. The dialogue was forced, juvenile, and pathetic (real people do not talk to one another the way this girl and her mother interact); the use of metaphor and simile was trite and overused (don't even get me started on this); and the plot line dragged (this should have been nothing more than a short story). Thank God this book was only 168 pages long! The worst thing about this "novel" is the fact that it seems the machinations of a male mind acting out his fantasies on the page. The two female characters, mother and daughter, worship a male stranger who is left for dead in their front yard way out in the sticks during a violent storm. They bathe his body in a bizarre ritual, the mother has sex with the man practically in front of her daughter, the daughter begins to masturbate over the sleeping figure of the man, the mother readies the man for sex with her daughter (who is only 13), and finally, the mother assists and watches as her daughter loses her virginity to the man. Who comes up with this kind of crap other than a desperate male? I knew from about page 40 that this would be the ultimate ending of the book because the writing was so transparent, but it still did not prepare me for the disgust I felt at the end. And if it isn't enough that the author exposes his own psyche to us via a sickening plot line, we are also treated to the fact that there are many aspects of the plot that never gain closure! What exactly happened to the man that placed him injured and unconscious on the front lawn of the twisted mother daughter team? Why did the author delve into and develop the storyline of the man's relationship with his own girlfriend so much if he never intended to resolve that portion of the story? Readers find out what happens to the mother and daughter after the man departs from their home (they are pleased that the 13 year old has been impregnated by the stranger they worshipped), but we are left to wonder what happens to the man. Good God, I surely hope this does not mean that Erik Simon intends to write a sequel! And one more thing...The mother repeatedly asserted to her daughter that while they lived in a trailer, they should not act as though they were white trash. Well, guess what? NOTHING could be more white trash than these two women characters, or this author for that matter, for writing such garbage!
Want to read
April 11, 2011I don't even need to read it and I already know it's going to be amazing because of what I've read of Erik's writing in the past. Disclaimer: classmate and friend.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews