Friday Reads

Hello again!
I hope you all had a lovely, restful holiday. Things were crazy as usual in our household, but much fun was had by all!

Fortunately, I was able to spend some time reading over Christmas and New Year's, and I finished a rather interesting book by Sarah Winman called When God Was a Rabbit. Truthfully, my reading tastes tend toward genre fiction (fantasy, sci-fi, romance, etc.) rather than literary projects, but I always find myself intrigued by the occasional title that causes a stir in whichever circles. I usually find these books difficult to read because the characters are so broken and damaged, or are put through such horrible events that they remind me too much of real-world events. I prefer a healthy dose of escapism with my fiction, thank you!

Regardless of all that, the one thing that happens with these stories is I find myself thinking about them at random moments, long after the cover has been closed. So it can't be said that these books don't have an effect!

This story recounts Elly's childhood in '70s England and the way she, her brother Joe, and her friend Jenny Penny deal with various traumatic events and secrets that lie just beneath the surface of their lives. They navigate a path through a world full of loss and heartache, the dark and damaging side of love and sex, and the ties -- however twisted sometimes -- that bind a family together. The characters' actions sometimes frustrated or confused me, but people in real life don't always act the way we want them to, either. I can't say I liked or disliked the book, only that it left me feeling somewhat ambivalent. I did find myself at times unable to put the book down, which is a good thing, and the characters were quite well drawn. I can't quite put my finger on what I would have liked done differently, however.

If you like coming-of-age stories that are slightly askew, this one is for you.

Have you read When God Was a Rabbit? What did you think of it?