Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
4 stars
My feelings about this book fluctuated quite a bit as I read. I started out loving it. I was convinced it was going to be a five star book. Then I kind of hit a snag and wasn't digging it as much... but in the end, I ended up loving it again.
Sometimes, when I don't like the choices that the author makes with the plot, I let it cloud my judgment of the work at large. I think that's what happened here. I was a bit disappointed with the way some of the characters went-- I wanted them to make better choices, really-- but I have to admit that the book is quite well written, very engaging, and moving. People do bad things all the time. The author wasn't advocating these bad things, she was merely depicting them. That is to say, if you are of the "I won't read books that have 'bad' things in them" persuasion, this book is not for you.
Mudbound is set in the deep South, post WWII. The chapters rotate through first person narrations from several characters, a format choice that I really, really appreciated. I loved getting the different sides of the story from the different characters and getting to hear the unique voices.
Laura is into spinsterhood at the ripe old age of 31 when she finally meets and marries Henry McAllan in Memphis, Tennessee. She is drawn into a life she never imagined when Henry spontaneously buys a farm in rural Mississippi and takes her and their two daughters down to live in a ramshackle old house without indoor plumbing. What's worse, Henry's cantankerous and downright mean father, Pappy, comes to live with them. He is a source of constant irritation for Laura-- and pretty much everyone else he comes in contact with.
Henry's new farm comes preloaded with tenants-- sharecroppers-- some of whom are white and some of whom are black. One of the African American families is the Jacksons. An unlikely friendship between their oldest son and Henry's younger brother, both of whom return from fighting in WWII around the same time, will leave these two families forever changed.
This book deals heavily with racism. There is a lot that ain't pretty, but that's the way it was (and still is, in parts). It also deals heavily with war and the challenges faced by young veterans returning to "normal" life. These are two themes I really enjoy reading about-- they are difficult, and heavy, and they weigh on the mind, but they are real. Some of the characters in this book reminded me strongly of people in my own life. It is a book that made me think.
Content advisory: some language, some sex, nothing graphic or gratuitous IMO.
Showing posts with label Hillary Jordan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hillary Jordan. Show all posts
Monday, December 3, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Book 28: When She Woke
When She Woke
Hillary Jordan
3.5 stars
I finished this book before we left on vacation last week, but it's been really hard to figure out what to say about it. It started off awesome. The middle was good, but not quite as strong. And the ending... well, I have to say it veered way off course.
When She Woke is a futuristic retelling/revamping of The Scarlet Letter. Hannah Payne (Hester Prynne) is a young churchgoer who has an affair with her preacher Aidan Dale (Arthur Dimmesdale). In this version of the story, Hannah becomes pregnant and decides to abort the child rather than shed an incriminating light on Dale, who is very much a public figure. I found a review of the book that sums up my feelings exactly, so I am going to post it here and link back to the user on goodreads:
From Jeanette:
This was a four-star book until the last 80 or so pages, and then it lost its way. So 3.5 stars it is.
The novel starts off strong with a tale of private shame made very public, and gleeful cruelty masquerading as religious piety. I saw some spooky parallels with the way Warren Jeffs was controlling the FLDS Church a few years ago.
Jordan takes the basic themes from Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and brings them into the future with the addition of abortion and extreme fundamentalist rule. Hannah Payne (Hester Prynne) and Aidan Dale (Arthur Dimmesdale) have had an affair. She's a young innocent parishioner. He's a married preacher with a huge following and a spotless reputation. Hannah has aborted their love child. Instead of a scarlet letter, she is punished with a scarlet body.
In this version of America, most criminals serve out their sentences among the general populace rather than behind bars. Their skin is "melachromed" red, yellow, green, or blue, depending on their crimes. Being marked in this way makes them outcasts, subject to derision, physical attacks, and even death threats. Prison would seem a more merciful punishment. [I will add a note here, to clarify that Hannah is melachromed because, in this future America, Roe v. Wade has been overturned and abortion is illegal. Her crime is therefore akin to second degree murder.]
After her initial chroming and public humiliation period, Hannah stays in a halfway house meant to prepare her for re-entering society as a "Red." She then makes a series of stops along a sort of futuristic underground railroad. Here is where the novel begins to go off the tracks, so to speak. It slowly collapses on itself with a tedious journey and a rushed ending that is too inconclusive to warrant the buildup. The quick foray into lesbianism is awkward and unrealistic, and thus feels obligatory rather than purposeful.
I was disappointed that Hannah didn't emerge more strengthened by her ordeal. I think Jordan hoped to show a transformation from a mousy, obedient evangelical girl into a fearless, bold, and resourceful woman. Whatever transformation does occur is too fast to be plausible. Hannah never quite reaches the state of maturity and self-knowledge we might wish for her. She's left mired in that late-adolescent stage of defiance versus dependence.
I do recommend the book, despite my middling rating. Just don't expect a strong finish to match the powerful beginning.
And that is pretty much how I feel. I loved the idea for the story, and I was so excited to see what would happen. But I was left feeling very unsatisfied at the end. Jordan didn't seem to be pushing a pro-choice agenda here-- even Hannah believes throughout that abortion is wrong-- but I feel like the agenda she did have was so unclear and muddled by the end as to be unrecognizable. Which is really too bad, because this story had a lot of potential.
Be warned-- as noted above, there is a quick foray into lesbianism toward the end. It was completely out of character for Hannah, IMO, and just weird. It's not graphic, but I can see it offending some.
Hillary Jordan
3.5 stars
I finished this book before we left on vacation last week, but it's been really hard to figure out what to say about it. It started off awesome. The middle was good, but not quite as strong. And the ending... well, I have to say it veered way off course.
When She Woke is a futuristic retelling/revamping of The Scarlet Letter. Hannah Payne (Hester Prynne) is a young churchgoer who has an affair with her preacher Aidan Dale (Arthur Dimmesdale). In this version of the story, Hannah becomes pregnant and decides to abort the child rather than shed an incriminating light on Dale, who is very much a public figure. I found a review of the book that sums up my feelings exactly, so I am going to post it here and link back to the user on goodreads:
From Jeanette:
This was a four-star book until the last 80 or so pages, and then it lost its way. So 3.5 stars it is.
The novel starts off strong with a tale of private shame made very public, and gleeful cruelty masquerading as religious piety. I saw some spooky parallels with the way Warren Jeffs was controlling the FLDS Church a few years ago.
Jordan takes the basic themes from Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and brings them into the future with the addition of abortion and extreme fundamentalist rule. Hannah Payne (Hester Prynne) and Aidan Dale (Arthur Dimmesdale) have had an affair. She's a young innocent parishioner. He's a married preacher with a huge following and a spotless reputation. Hannah has aborted their love child. Instead of a scarlet letter, she is punished with a scarlet body.
In this version of America, most criminals serve out their sentences among the general populace rather than behind bars. Their skin is "melachromed" red, yellow, green, or blue, depending on their crimes. Being marked in this way makes them outcasts, subject to derision, physical attacks, and even death threats. Prison would seem a more merciful punishment. [I will add a note here, to clarify that Hannah is melachromed because, in this future America, Roe v. Wade has been overturned and abortion is illegal. Her crime is therefore akin to second degree murder.]
After her initial chroming and public humiliation period, Hannah stays in a halfway house meant to prepare her for re-entering society as a "Red." She then makes a series of stops along a sort of futuristic underground railroad. Here is where the novel begins to go off the tracks, so to speak. It slowly collapses on itself with a tedious journey and a rushed ending that is too inconclusive to warrant the buildup. The quick foray into lesbianism is awkward and unrealistic, and thus feels obligatory rather than purposeful.
I was disappointed that Hannah didn't emerge more strengthened by her ordeal. I think Jordan hoped to show a transformation from a mousy, obedient evangelical girl into a fearless, bold, and resourceful woman. Whatever transformation does occur is too fast to be plausible. Hannah never quite reaches the state of maturity and self-knowledge we might wish for her. She's left mired in that late-adolescent stage of defiance versus dependence.
I do recommend the book, despite my middling rating. Just don't expect a strong finish to match the powerful beginning.
And that is pretty much how I feel. I loved the idea for the story, and I was so excited to see what would happen. But I was left feeling very unsatisfied at the end. Jordan didn't seem to be pushing a pro-choice agenda here-- even Hannah believes throughout that abortion is wrong-- but I feel like the agenda she did have was so unclear and muddled by the end as to be unrecognizable. Which is really too bad, because this story had a lot of potential.
Be warned-- as noted above, there is a quick foray into lesbianism toward the end. It was completely out of character for Hannah, IMO, and just weird. It's not graphic, but I can see it offending some.
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