By Miranda Cowley Heller
SPOILERS
It is a perfect July morning, and Elle, a fifty-year-old happily married mother of three, awakens at “The Paper Palace”—the family summer place which she has visited every summer of her life. But this morning is different: last night Elle and her oldest friend Jonas crept out the back door into the darkness and had sex with each other for the first time, all while their spouses chatted away inside. Now, over the next twenty-four hours, Elle will have to decide between the life she has made with her genuinely beloved husband, Peter, and the life she always imagined she would have had with her childhood love, Jonas, if a tragic event hadn’t forever changed the course of their lives. As Heller colors in the experiences that have led Elle to this day, we arrive at her ultimate decision with all its complexity.
REVIEW
THEMES: EMOTIONAL, FAMILY SECRETS, BETRAYAL, MEDIUM-PACED.
Heller’s writing is incredible, the layered relationships, complex characters and unexpected conclusions – are all so well explained and planned out.
The story follows Elle a daughter, wife and mother. It jumps between past and present tense, providing context on her background and relationships.
The sister’s ending/death felt unfinished. What seemed like an important subplot that ran throughout the story, got cut off at the end. As if Heller wanted to give the family ‘privacy’, which is rather inconsistent with how intimately you get to know them.
The events that take place are intense, Heller explores sensitive subjects and themes that arouses the emotions and piques curiosity.
The relationships are a realistic representation of a fractured family, where each character has their own respective outlook. Heller allows all the characters to make mistakes without persecuting them and painting them in a negative light.
I was reading through reviews, and someone mentioned that they noticed the women’s ‘depth’ always stemmed from abuse, which is tiring and one-dimensional. And I agree, I am not saying that this is always the case, but I do for this book. Which is why I brought my rating down a tad.
Be prepared for some confronting subjects that involve sexual abuse.
Click link below for Storygraph overview, which includes general rating, summary (same as above) and other reviews.
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