Reviewed by Ian
Godmother
Reviewed by Ian Godmother
A recently widowed woman is uncertain in her relationship with her 13-year-old son. She is about to take on fostering her recently killed sister's son too. She still dwells on the deaths of loved ones and is not confident in her ability to cope with children or life generally. The first day does not go well.
The story is well-written, well-paced and based on an interesting premise. The author makes it easy for the reader to flow with the story, and one's appetite is whetted by a number of sub-themes, although they stay undeveloped throughout. This deeper structure behind the characters might be worth bringing out
As a reviewer I was in a quandary. I wondered if what seemed to me to be unrealistic behaviour/reactions of the widow might merely reflect the differences in cultural viewpoint between me and the story world. I leave it to readers to work this out for themselves. For me, this credibility doubt pulled attention away from the story. The story is about three stressed people trying to deal with the extra stress of each other. The relationship between the cousins works. It is not clear whether the author intends us to see the mother's thoughts on the interaction between the boys as off the mark, or as a reasonable assessment.
The ending is disappointing, not because of where it leaves us to go on to a conclusion for ourselves, but because it gives the reader no confidence in a resolution. For me, the reaction was that the hero(ine) is (in her son's idiom) a 'dork' who seems to have gained no insight from 13 years of parenting.
This, I think, is a readable story despite the possible weakness in characterisation. I am interested to find out from the guestpage what others think.
Reviewed by © Ian
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