Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced audiobook explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold has.
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Let me start by saying that I am a fan of Alice Sebold. I loved The Lovely Bones, but there is not much good I can say about this book. The main character, Helen Knightly, is one of the least sympathetic characters I have ever met between the pages of a book. I wanted to feel bad for her. She had great potential for sympathy. Her childhood, her father's death, her mother's slow decay, should have all inspired feelings of compassion, but her actions and the motivations behind them had the complete opposite effect. The plot was insipid and the ending was abrupt and incomplete. I didn't like this one at all.
