I
write this, 300 pages into a 400-page novel.
That’s deeply enough to proclaim the author’s stunning writing ability
to turn a phrase: metaphors, descriptive words, uncommon thoughts. The author is unusually inventive: in scenes,
conversations, and plotline. Likewise,
with 100 pages to go, I won’t be writing any spoilers.
With,
I’m sure, hundreds of books coming off the presses with a 2018 publishing date,
how did I select this one? Ahh, the
power of a good author to influence their readers. Louise Penny, a favorite of mine, wrote a
recommendation that sold me. That’s not
to say I didn’t also order [Jan 1st] and am reading: “The Nothing”
by Hanif Kureishi [an NPR recommendation], and Wolff’s, “Fire and Fury” [a
Donald Trump anti-recommendation].
Finn’s
book is particularly relevant for our Guerneville book groups and book program
on local KGGV FM-radio. That’s because
these groups are loaded with psychologists and … ..
the
protagonist of this book is a child psychologist, and the plotlines revolve
around the families with children living around her, as well as her own, and
she is deeply struggling with agoraphobia, and … ..
she
is self-medicating with prodigious quantities or powerful drugs (medications),
and washing them down with bottles of wine.
Nonetheless,
the reader sympathizes with her: “she needs the meds”, “she can handle the
wine”. She’s in control: wins at chess
and runs an online mental health chat line.
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