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I first read this last year in a time when I was reading a hell of a lot (roughly two full-length books a day). As a result, I have very little memory of the plotlines and the wonders of many of the books I had read and am on a mission to reread some of them. After first coming across Margaret Atwood when I read The Handmaid's Tale at the age of 14 and later, Cat's Eye. Both of these enchanted me and introduced me to an author who is definitely one of the great contemporary writers of her time.
This book is told by Iris Chase who we learn early on once had a sister, Laura who died after the car she was driving plunged into the river. Iris acts as the narrator for this story which flashes back and forth between a childhood and eventual adulthood with Laura as well as an older Iris remembering those years while she suffers from a heart condition. The book is at first a clear picture of a suicide by an unusual but psychologically compelling sister in Laura. The book, however, takes the reader on an intricately woven tale of the perils of high society and the blind attitude which perpetuated the era in which the story is set.An interesting social commentary of the 20th century can also be drawn from the book which has a history from the beginning of World War I to the present day in a world perhaps more than ever dominated by greed and violence.
The story is aided by a novel apparently written by Laura called The Blind Assassin which informs the reader of a certain romantic situation and brings in the science fiction element which is present in so many of Atwood's books.
Atwood is one of the few authors who can get away with using an entire paragraph to tell you that plants are growing. She has an exceptional gift with literary word play which first became clear to me while reading The Handmaid's Tale. Her words flow beautifully and do not detract from the storyline but rather generously feed it. The book comes to an astonishing close, chilling the reader and stripping down the barriers of understanding.
Definitely one of my favourite books. Read it or miss out.
After reading this book, I can definitively say it went over and above my expectations and is in my view, the best book of the ones I have read by this author. It documents the life of Tully, an independent teenager growing up in a poverty-stricken area with a lifetime of abuse and neglect behind her.
The writing in this book is not exquisite Woolf-esque prose but it matches Tully's character; blunt, to the point and it puts across the situation. Tully lives through the suicide of a childhood friend, Jennifer and summons all her strength to embark on a social work degree. The story is turbulent, through the misery of Tully's young life and the resulting confusion as well as a continuing sense of wrongness in her adult life.
In many ways Tully left me distraught. The amount of times I was reduced to tears was evened out but simply laughing at her manner and her rugged determination to right the wrongs that had been done to her through her work with foster children. We are often reminded of the years that Tully used her dancing talents and although these are never outwardly discussed in detail, we do learn about her dancing past through the sexual power she continues to hold over her male counterparts.
When Jennifer's true love returns to town, Tully wants to hate him. It is obvious from the beginning, however, that he (Jack) holds the magnetism which obsessed Jennifer and later another friend, Shakie. It is likely that Tully would have gone the same way if not for her stoic temperament, where her life had taught her to deal with anything else.
The ending of this book devastated me but I could see why it happened. I would definitely recommend this book over and above The Bronze Horseman series.
So I'm loving the Jan Jordan books at the moment, this woman is amazing. This book details the paths through the justice system of several of Malcom Rewa's victims, from their attacks through to verdicts, support systems and final convictions.
The thing I liked most about this book was the way it focused solely on the victims, apart from an appendix at the end there was very little about Malcom Rewa, he was also referred to as 'MR' throughout the book which seemed to make him something less than the women who's lives who ruined. In so many books about serial killers/rapists or other criminals, so much focus is put on the perpetrator and almost none on the victims who survived or died. It was nice to finally read a book that focused on the victim rather than just the profile of the criminal.
The interviews are done remarkably well, and I truly think this book is one that so many people could identify with. I remember while I was reading it I kept almost bursting into tears from similarities to my own thoughts and experiences, she interviewed enough women so that there were a range of perspectives about each part of the process and it acted as a good measure of how they were treated by the police as well more widely as a whole.
It was also useful in the way that it detailed about how the women of certain ages were more or less affected by the rape compared to the attack as a whole. As well as detailing what were and weren't helpful responses by friends and families which I think is a very useful tool for anyone that knows or is close to a rape survivor, there are so many reactions that while in some opinions may seem helpful at the time can actually further victimisation.
It also served as an indicator of how our justice system can put a victim on trial rather than a perpetrator. The adversarial justice system which is used here can often cause a lot of trauma for the victim even beyond the attack, a lot of the women in the book remarked they detested the defense attorney almost as much or more than they did Rewa. It opens up a forum for discussion about whether an adversarial system is helpful for victims and whether perhaps there should be some sort of inquiry into whether this system should be universal or whether something could be changed around to help the victims. As a survivor of PTSD myself, I know how hard it can be to go through everything again even after the event. It also analysed in detail the work of victim support agencies and counselors. It was helpful to discover again what helped and what didn't and the way even though some women did not like their first counselor, they found the second one a lot better. It also helped to show how common rape and sexual assault are with several of the women commenting that many people came forward and told them about their own experiences.
Obviously this book is unique in New Zealand and also rare over the world, so many people do not realise that rape and sexual assaults are almost always not just an attack but something that feels like it's drained you of life and you still have to go on living. This book portrayed that so well. The whole time I was reading it, I was amazed by the amount of knowledge anyone would gain from reading this.
I would recommend it to anyone: victims, friends of victims, police, lawyers, judges, politicians, would-be rapists, etc.
Truly amazing book, best non-fiction book I have ever read
Next up: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
