July 2017: Emma Donoghue

How about some light beach reads this month? Nah, instead we're going to tackle the works of Emma Donoghue. What does everyone plan on reading?

Shockingly, I plan on reading Room. I still haven't gotten around to it despite years of buzz.

I'll be reading The Wonder which I have on my TBR. I've read five others by her and they were all great in different ways.

90. The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue: (2 1/2*); Monthly Author Read; Orange Prize L/L, 2012;

My thoughts and comments:

This is a story about a woman suffragist who is sucked into an old friend's unhappy marriage and trysts. The effect that it has on her life is certainly not her desire.
I found the courtroom drama in The Sealed Letter to be fascinating. It was so interesting to see how things were done years ago. And the Author's Note was very 'notable'. So much info gathered into so few pages, I hadn't realized that the book was based on an actual lifetime event and within the Author's Note I found several books that I will be checking my library for. Other than that it was rather meh.
Some quotes:

"She goes up to bed, and sits reading The Small House at Allingham to bore herself to sleep." hmmm

"The knack will be, to it without saying it; anything explicit could rebound in our faces," the barrister goes on. "Admiral, are you by any chance familiar with the story of The Purloined Letter?"

"Four years after testifying in the trial, Fido mulled over her experiences with Helen Codrington, more in sorrow than in anger, in a bestselling novel called "Change upon Change". (wrong touchstone) The persona she adopts is that of a sober man called Wilfred, helplessly devoted and secretly engaged to his flighty cousin Tiny. "Women have so many natures," he concludes wistfully; "I think she loved me well with one." In the preface to the American edition of 1873 (renamed "A Reed Shaken in the Wind", Fido admitted."

My main problem with the book was that I could not come to relate to or to be interested in any of the characters, not even Fido, the main character. (not that I have to be into the characters to appreciate a book) I did not dislike the book and I am glad that I read it. I liked it well enough to give it 2 1/2 stars, but it was rather a snooze for me.

>4 rainpebble: Hmm, interesting. I don't know much about The Sealed Letter, but I've heard plenty of praise for Room. So hopefully you will like it better!

The other day I recalled that I received The Wonder for Christmas, so maybe I'll read that instead.

I have liked or loved everything I've read by Emma Donoghue. I found The Sealed Letter a joy and loved it until the ending which was a bit over the top. It's probably my favourite Donoghue but lots of people seem to have been less impressed!

Room is a completely different book from The Sealed Letter and I'm not even sure I could have guessed they were by the same author. I loved it too, but for very different reasons.

I have The Wonder on Kindle to read and plan to do so in July.

When I went to look for Wide Sargasso Sea at my local library for June and found it wasn't there, I picked up Room instead. I read it quickly and quite liked it, although it was so dark I think it put me in a weird headspace. Still, I'd recommend it. Longer review to be posted here on LT at some point soon hopefully. I also hope to get to The Wonder this month as well, but we'll see. Only so many hours in the day and I just started another 400+ page novel!

Below is my review of Room. I was trying to stay spoiler free, so it's on the light side:

Jack has spent his entire life inside of Room, the tiny enclosure he shares with his mother, who is occasionally visited by the gruff and violent "Old Nick" at night when Jack is supposed to be sleeping. After Jack turns 5 years old, his mother begins the process of what she calls "unlying" -- telling Jack the truth she has kept from him; they are both prisoners of Old Nick, who is keeping them from the outside world while she is desperately seeking a way of escape.

Room is a difficult book to read because of the dark content, but one that reads very quickly because it is so compelling and so well written. The story is told from the perspective of the precocious 5-year-old Jack, for whom Donoghue creates an authentic and generally endearing voice. Jack's limited understanding of the outside world is at times as humorous as it is heartbreaking. Donoghue even manages to slip in literary references through what Jack overhears. The character of Ma is inspiring -- a determined fighter and devoted mother, whose passion really makes you think about survival in such a cruel situation.

That all being said, I have to reiterate that this is a very dark book. While I "enjoyed" reading it in that the characters, plot, and writing style were all well done, I think it also put my headspace in a bad place (e.g., my already sour mood was made worse). Still, it ends with some hopeful notes, which made for a satisfying read. I would recommend it for those readers who think they can handle the disturbing content.

I read Hood and really liked it. Pen and Cara met in an Irish convent school and over time, fell in love. Sadly, they were never able to tell anyone about their love. It's now years later and Cara has died in a car crash leaving Pen alone to mourn the loss in secret. The novel takes place in the week following the death.

>9 sweetiegherkin: I read Room a few years ago and enjoyed it but you are right, it does take you to some dark places.

I've read both The Wonder and The Sealed Letter and despite rating them the same (3 stars), I remember liking the latter a lot better than the former. Weird.

>12 Yells: Funny how that happens sometimes. Quite often I recall liking a book a lot as more time passes and then I go back to my reviews and see I starred it on the low side. Some books just grow on you, I guess.