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HANDS IN CONTRARY MOTION
Michelle Murgatroyd worries about being unattractive, and isn't getting on with her family. But when she plays the piano she feels free, and getting to know a new friend gives her confidence a boost.
1 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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October 15, 2021
This is a re-read of a book I remember really enjoying in my teenage years. Sadly, the title was rather less memorable, but thanks to the power of the Internet, I tracked it down eventually. The reason I enjoyed it so much was that unlike nearly every other teen book which in some way seems to focus on a boy or friends as the key to happiness, this is very much a voyage of self-discovery in terms of the character's hobbies and interests and realising there is a wider world out there then she realises.
I have lost count of how many YA and contemporary fiction books feature characters with no deep interests other than mooning over males, or possibly baking. If the author wants to display their literary prententions and appear well-read, we may have a character wiffle on about Jane Austen. And that's it. Or they'll claim to be a nerd about comic books, but they never talk about reading one.
This is frustratingly unrealistic, because teenage friends and boyfriends are usually transient. Also, when I was growing up in the 90s, there was no Internet, so aside from phone calls, if you weren't with your friends, you needed to have something else to do.
Similarly, it's baffling to read about grown adults who have no deep abiding interests aside from getting over a bad relationship and into a new one. It's why I adored The Animators because the two characters were so driven by their work and their art and that is still such a rare feature in contemporary women's fiction, where every other character has a nondescript and not overly taxing office job.
Back to Hands in Contrary Motion. Is it as good as I remember it being? Yes, albeit a bit darker than I recollected. Michelle is a teenage girl in a large working class family, with only enjoyment she has is learning to play the piano, hence the title of the book. Michelle's life is rather bleak at the start of the book and content warning, there is some mention of childhood sexual abuse. I've deducted a star for that as I think it only needs to be included if it is really essential for the plot and I'm not sure it is here.
Still, Michelle feels like a real, embodied character. There's modern trend of supposed realism where characters describe bodily functions in as disgusting manner as possible, despite nobody actually thinking of their body in that way. Here, Michelle has period pains, needs the toilet loads when she feels nervous in a manner that is highly relatable, but rare to encounter in fiction. In the very best books, you feel like you've peered briefly into the character's world and that they are still out there somewhere living their life. I hope Michelle is out there somewhere with a cat and nice houseplants.
I have lost count of how many YA and contemporary fiction books feature characters with no deep interests other than mooning over males, or possibly baking. If the author wants to display their literary prententions and appear well-read, we may have a character wiffle on about Jane Austen. And that's it. Or they'll claim to be a nerd about comic books, but they never talk about reading one.
This is frustratingly unrealistic, because teenage friends and boyfriends are usually transient. Also, when I was growing up in the 90s, there was no Internet, so aside from phone calls, if you weren't with your friends, you needed to have something else to do.
Similarly, it's baffling to read about grown adults who have no deep abiding interests aside from getting over a bad relationship and into a new one. It's why I adored The Animators because the two characters were so driven by their work and their art and that is still such a rare feature in contemporary women's fiction, where every other character has a nondescript and not overly taxing office job.
Back to Hands in Contrary Motion. Is it as good as I remember it being? Yes, albeit a bit darker than I recollected. Michelle is a teenage girl in a large working class family, with only enjoyment she has is learning to play the piano, hence the title of the book. Michelle's life is rather bleak at the start of the book and content warning, there is some mention of childhood sexual abuse. I've deducted a star for that as I think it only needs to be included if it is really essential for the plot and I'm not sure it is here.
Still, Michelle feels like a real, embodied character. There's modern trend of supposed realism where characters describe bodily functions in as disgusting manner as possible, despite nobody actually thinking of their body in that way. Here, Michelle has period pains, needs the toilet loads when she feels nervous in a manner that is highly relatable, but rare to encounter in fiction. In the very best books, you feel like you've peered briefly into the character's world and that they are still out there somewhere living their life. I hope Michelle is out there somewhere with a cat and nice houseplants.
Displaying 1 of 1 review