Status Updates From Mrs. Kimble

This book is relentlessly tragic. It’s not so bad that it’s hard to read but certainly nobody’s getting any happy ending. The section I just finished ended with a woman finding cancer in her breast while the narrative states that she had been waiting for that to happen. 🎶 Bleak, bleak, bleak, bleak fires in the streets… 🎶

So far I’m reading this fairly quickly, which I feel good about. I’ve been a slow reader lately so it’s nice to get some momentum going. I still feel positively about the book, but I don’t know that it’s blowing me away. Some of the delayed reveals I appreciate, I guess. It’s definitely good, but the question is “how good?” Still half to go, though, so… we’ll see.

I think I added this to my WTRs a few years ago while looking specifically for Iowa Writers Workshop grads… I haven’t double-checked that yet. I was hoping it might be Sittenfeld-esque or maybe like IDAHO by Emily Ruskovich. So far neither exactly fits. It IS relentlessly depressing, kinda like IDAHO, but the writing isn’t nearly as florid. I think I’m generally liking it but I’m not taking any notes.