Author: Alice Sebold
Date of Publication: October 26, 2007
Opening line: "When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily." (pg. 3)
(NOTE: The reason I include the opening line is because I have always felt that the first line will make or break the entire book.)
Pros:
The opening line to The Almost Moon caught my attention immediately but as the story continued, the reader learns that 49-year old Helen Knightly is not as disturbed as her actions towards her mother may make her out to be. After dealing with her mother, Clair, who suffered from Agoraphobia and Dementia throughout Helen's entire childhood into adulthood, Helen shares her stories of the love and pain she felt as she found her way into the world and what led her to make such a decision about her mother's life. The storyline itself was interesting and the characters were easy to relate to, which made the reading accessible to a wide audience. I was also impressed with the depth of the back-story Sebold gave of Helen, her parents, and the way everyone operated around Clair's mental illnesses and the strains it put on the family and the neighborhood. In looking at this family history, Sebold plunges into the dark side of humanity to expose how people do have terrible thoughts of things happening to the ones they love, and Sebold, in a way, fulfills this unsettling fantasy. She takes risks in her writing, speaking of and thinking of death in ways that most people would never venture towards. I, personally, give Sebold major props for taking the dark road not taken and exposing a possible truth behind the closed doors of a family in a supposedly safe, suburban neighborhood.
Pros:
The opening line to The Almost Moon caught my attention immediately but as the story continued, the reader learns that 49-year old Helen Knightly is not as disturbed as her actions towards her mother may make her out to be. After dealing with her mother, Clair, who suffered from Agoraphobia and Dementia throughout Helen's entire childhood into adulthood, Helen shares her stories of the love and pain she felt as she found her way into the world and what led her to make such a decision about her mother's life. The storyline itself was interesting and the characters were easy to relate to, which made the reading accessible to a wide audience. I was also impressed with the depth of the back-story Sebold gave of Helen, her parents, and the way everyone operated around Clair's mental illnesses and the strains it put on the family and the neighborhood. In looking at this family history, Sebold plunges into the dark side of humanity to expose how people do have terrible thoughts of things happening to the ones they love, and Sebold, in a way, fulfills this unsettling fantasy. She takes risks in her writing, speaking of and thinking of death in ways that most people would never venture towards. I, personally, give Sebold major props for taking the dark road not taken and exposing a possible truth behind the closed doors of a family in a supposedly safe, suburban neighborhood.
Cons:
As previously stated, I enjoyed
the depth of the back-story Sebold gave of Helen and her family, but
unfortunately, it seemed to take over the actual storyline. As the story continued, my interest was held
at its highest when the police began investigating Clair's death, not when Helen was talking
about her mother’s old modeling days.
Sebold’s transitions of past to present are not always clear and if the reader is not paying attention, they are thrown right back into the present story line in the blink of an eye after being engrossed in a memory about her Clair’s
agoraphobia. The most disappointing aspect of the book was the ending and the way Sebold seemed to take the easy way out rather than creating a conclusion with more elaboration. Usually
in reading novels, the readers come to expect certain things to happen, and in
the Victorian Era, the readers were given the opportunity to read installments
of books and write to authors, such as Charles Dickens, saying what they wanted
to happen or who they wanted eliminated from the story. In the end, taking the reader’s opinions into
mind, the authors would change their stories to accommodate their readers. Keeping
this ideology in mind, Sebold does not follow this tactic because the ending did not leave any satisfaction for the reader. Instead, it left the reader (I, myself for example) sitting there, looking at the novel with a blank look, unsure if the ending was real or a joke. This is
not to say that present-day authors should give predictiable endings, because
that would be boring. What I argue is
that the ending should have at least made sense and fit with what had been happening throughout the entire story, unlike the one that was given that left the reader feeling disgruntled and confused.
Overall rating: Average- 3/5. The book kept my interest but the ending was abrupt and left many questions unanswered.
I hope you enjoyed my first review! My next one should be soon! :)
Forever More,
Shelly-Beans
