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longstorieshort's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
maralyons's review against another edition
4.0
The Complicities is a book about three women who live in the shadow of what happens after 50 year old Alan has been convicted for financial fraud. The story is told in Suzanne's perspective, Alan's ex-wife. She claims she was ignorant of his crimes but enjoyed the lavish life his job provided. Suzanne divorces him when he's convicted and ceases all contact. She creates a new life in a blue-collar coastal town in Massachusetts.
After Alan is released early from prison, he lives with his son and lawyer. He eventually meets and marries a younger woman, Lydia. We learn about her complex past and mistakes and what led her to Alan. We also meet Alan’s long estranged mother. She was forced to give up custody of him when he was very young and has led a transient life since.
I found the relationships between these women and with Alan fascinating. He's highly intelligent but makes questionable choices to help his family again and again. I enjoyed pondering the ambiguity of choices we make and the ripple effects that come from them.
After Alan is released early from prison, he lives with his son and lawyer. He eventually meets and marries a younger woman, Lydia. We learn about her complex past and mistakes and what led her to Alan. We also meet Alan’s long estranged mother. She was forced to give up custody of him when he was very young and has led a transient life since.
I found the relationships between these women and with Alan fascinating. He's highly intelligent but makes questionable choices to help his family again and again. I enjoyed pondering the ambiguity of choices we make and the ripple effects that come from them.
marielouisereads's review
3.0
I really felt neutral about this book. No strong feelings, but I also didn’t dislike it.
musicalpopcorn's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
After her husband goes to jail for defrauding people of their money, Suzanne starts a new life for herself and tries to forget her part in his crimes.
This is a book of terrible people being terrible. Not a single character had any redeeming qualities. Also the writing was crude. Any time it tried to be deep, it was ruined by the crude comments about sex or people’s bodies.
The part with the Ted Talk was honestly disturbing. Suzanne didn’t make any sense half the time. I did not enjoy this book.
This is a book of terrible people being terrible. Not a single character had any redeeming qualities. Also the writing was crude. Any time it tried to be deep, it was ruined by the crude comments about sex or people’s bodies.
The part with the Ted Talk was honestly disturbing. Suzanne didn’t make any sense half the time. I did not enjoy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, and Animal death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Car accident, Classism, Toxic relationship, Death, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Self harm
ferris_mx's review
5.0
Interesting story of the wife of a Ponzi banker tries to reassemble part of her family and her life after the discovery of her husband's crime. She knew enough that a rigidly ethical person might stop the charade, but not so much that everyone would. So, how complicit was she? Is it our responsibility to protect the world from our spouse, to turn on our spouse if our spouse's ethics are compromised? Or is there latitude there?
tellthebeees's review
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A fascinating experiment in what literary fiction can do: absolutely beautiful writing- the first fifty pages of this shook me to my core, just stunning and masterful. Then, the "plot" kicks in and it gets bizarre. I understand the whale as metaphor, I do not understand the 100 pages of describing the biology of the whale.
I loved the Lydia parts, I think D'Erasmo shined when it came to characterizing her and describing her circumstances. The Sylvia chapters were nonsensical and the book really careened off course in the last third.
I think definitely read this if you appreciate lovely writing and can handle plotless books. Otherwise, not sure I would rec.
I loved the Lydia parts, I think D'Erasmo shined when it came to characterizing her and describing her circumstances. The Sylvia chapters were nonsensical and the book really careened off course in the last third.
I think definitely read this if you appreciate lovely writing and can handle plotless books. Otherwise, not sure I would rec.
bookishmillennial's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Look, I just probably wasn't the right audience for this book. While I appreciated the themes that this book discussed, I just found it near impossible to feel genuine sympathy for many of these people -_-
claudiaslibrarycard's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Complicities is a novel that exists outside of our typical expectations while still playing in a familiar enough space. Suzanne is a recently divorced woman, going from extreme wealth to barely making ends meet in a small town on Cape Cod. Her husband was convicted of financial crimes, and the story attends to the ripple effects of what she knew, didn't know, or pretended not to know.
D'Erasmo offers us a strange take on the novel form by spending a significant portion of the story focused on a beached whale. This rare, endangered whale captures Suzanne's attention as well. I think for many readers this emphasis on the whale, it's rescue, it's ultimate slow demise, will be too detailed and drawn out. I expected that for myself but found that I couldn't put this book down. I connected so much to the way Suzanne was trying to do something good while suppressing all memories that reminded her of her own complicities.
While we learn about the whale, we also slowly learn about two other women. It takes a while for us to fully understand who they are, but by the end of the story these three women are so intertwined and also separated by grief. This is the kind of book that makes you sit with some discomfit, considering what our responsibility is in situations we impact directly and indirectly.
I recommend this to a certain reader, one who likes a slow pensive novel with not much plot, a main character who is not fully dislikable but also not redeemed, and someone who enjoys an almost strange level of detail about a tangential topic (in this case, the whale). If those aspects appeal to you, I highly recommend this small but memorable story.
D'Erasmo offers us a strange take on the novel form by spending a significant portion of the story focused on a beached whale. This rare, endangered whale captures Suzanne's attention as well. I think for many readers this emphasis on the whale, it's rescue, it's ultimate slow demise, will be too detailed and drawn out. I expected that for myself but found that I couldn't put this book down. I connected so much to the way Suzanne was trying to do something good while suppressing all memories that reminded her of her own complicities.
While we learn about the whale, we also slowly learn about two other women. It takes a while for us to fully understand who they are, but by the end of the story these three women are so intertwined and also separated by grief. This is the kind of book that makes you sit with some discomfit, considering what our responsibility is in situations we impact directly and indirectly.
I recommend this to a certain reader, one who likes a slow pensive novel with not much plot, a main character who is not fully dislikable but also not redeemed, and someone who enjoys an almost strange level of detail about a tangential topic (in this case, the whale). If those aspects appeal to you, I highly recommend this small but memorable story.
emco_0's review
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0