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'Moving and inspiring, courageous and true: real art. Just reading her is pleasure' Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun'She is fearless in her depiction of female desire - I think many women will find themselves in these pages' Katherine May, author of Wintering'Such a bold, brave, and beautiful story about birth, death, rebirth and building a larger life' Charlie Gilmour, author of FeatherhoodJust days into motherhood, a woman begins dying. Fast and without warning.On return from near-death, Tanya Shadrick vows to stop sleepwalking through life. To take more risks, like the characters in the fairy tales she loved as a small girl, before loss and fear had her retreat into routine and daydreams.Around the care of young children, she starts to play with the shape and scale of her days: to stray from the path, get lost in the woods, make bargains with strangers. As she moves beyond her respectable roles as worker, wife and mother in a small town, Tanya learns what it takes - and costs - to break the spell of longing for love, approval, safety, rescue.… (more)
User reviews
My problem with this book is its frequent tone of self-pity and the way in which the author used her unhappiness to justify regrettable behavior. She had a
After suffering a near-death experience following childbirth, the author goes in search of "The cure for sleep," apparently a way to feel more alive, deeply attached to each moment, giving and interacting and experiencing - all great goals, but she does this primarily by having an affair. In the end she seems to acknowledge this as a mistake, but she lost me the moment she chose that route. Had a man opted for an affair so that he could once again experience life's joys, all while his wife works so he could be at home with two children, it's doubtful any readers would have assured him: "Poor, poor you! Go do what you need to do."
I also tired of the author's incessant use of italics. There must be at least 10 on each page, as though the reader wouldn't understand urgency without these. If a writer makes the point clearly to begin with, she doesn't need to constantly stress phrase after phrase after phrase.
I'm disappointed that a writer with talent chose to spend so much time immersed in own sorrow. If you enjoy long paths of "poor me," then this may be for you. I just wanted to shake her and say: "There are people starving to death. Figure out an answer to your problems and move on."