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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Self harm, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Dementia, Vomit, Abortion, Infertility, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Racism, Rape, Pedophilia, Murder, Infidelity, Incest, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Child death
poisonenvy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It tells the story of three women whose stories start at different points in history, though all their stories do intersect at certain points: There's Evelyn, a young woman in the sixties who was forced to go to a home for Wayward Girls: aka, women who became pregnant outside of marriage and were forced to give up their babies. There's Nancy, a young woman in the 1980s who becomes pregnant and needs to seek out an illegal abortion, thereby stumbling on the Jane Network: an underground network that provided safe abortions for people who needed them. And then there's Angela, a woman who's undergoing treatments to become pregnant after she and her wife had struggled with fertility. The story kicks off with her discovering a letter from a mother, telling her daughter that she'd been adopted, and confessing that she discovered afterward that her birth mother had never wanted to give her up.
But more than any of these three women, the novel tells the history of abortion rights in Canada.
And I mean that literally. Unfortunately, none of the characters are especially fleshed out. They very often become mouthpieces, and seemed more like vehicles to relay the history of reproductive rights in Canada than characters that I could really bring myself to care about.
The prose was often clunky and stilted (and was in third-person present tense, which is my least favourite of all narration styles), and sometimes veered into dangerously purple territory. And, at times, the story just felt <i>contrived</i> so that we could be sure that the characters were where they needed to be. There was a surprise twist near the end that surprised me, and <i>not</i> in a good way (the surprise wasn't a bad one, it just didn't feel like it really fit and I wondered if it didn't raise some inconsistencies, though I'm unlikely to do a reread to find out if they're really there or not).
Criticisms aside though, this story is important, and tells a very important part of Canadian history. Marshall has clearly done her research, and while the story sometimes suffers so she could expound on that history/research, it was still very informative. I have no doubt that Marshall could have written a very good non-fiction book on the subject. Clunky writing aside, it's also very easy to read and digest.
And I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone who cares to learn more about Canada's history with reproductive rights, especially if they would prefer to have that information come in the form of fiction over non-fiction.
Graphic: Abortion, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Rape
Minor: Death of parent, Dementia, and Infidelity
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was inspired by true stories and intertwines three different characters as they navigate love, loss, and a woman’s right to choose.
I really liked this! It was deeply emotional and very timely.
There were a few things that took away from the story for me. One was part of Nancy’s story. I didn’t understand her decision to hide her adoption from her husband. It may very well be because I was not adopted and I don’t understand the emotions bound up in that, but I felt that he could have helped her through it. Instead, it ended up causing a rift because she chose to tell him something much more polarizing (again, in my opinion).
I also didn’t 100% buy the story of Evelyn.
Overall though, I thought this was very powerful.
Graphic: Abortion, Suicide, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, and Blood
Moderate: Rape and Death of parent
Minor: Dementia, Cancer, and Infidelity