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A review by thisotherbookaccount
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore
4.0
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The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne is about Judith Hearne, an unmarried woman in her early forties who had just spent the last two decades caring for her infirmed aunt. Now that her aunt has passed away, she’s ready to carve out a path for herself. This should have been the beginning of the rest of her life — or at least that was the plan. Without education and a promising suitor, Hearne is left with just the straws she grasps in her hands.
This book resonated because I have been thinking a lot about the multiple identities we take on as individuals. It’s fine if you identify the most with your job or being a spouse, but what happens if you lose your job? What happens if the marriage fails? When so much of who you are is dependent on those identities, what happens when they are suddenly stripped away?
For decades, Hearne too had two identities: a caregiver and a Catholic. This book is about what happens when these identities are taken away, what happens when you attempt to fill the hole with alcohol, as well as what happens when even your faith — the one thing that should remain steadfast — is shaken by doubt.
I also love Moore’s criticism of the treatment of women at the time, how little education they were afforded, since they were meant for marriage anyway. Moore also has scathing things to say about the Catholic Church, not as a religion per se, but as an institution, and how prayer was the end-all-be-all cure for mental health issues.
I didn’t quite expect this book to take the turns that it did, but I am glad where it ended up. It’s not the most uplifting book, but it has such an important, potent message to say.
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne is about Judith Hearne, an unmarried woman in her early forties who had just spent the last two decades caring for her infirmed aunt. Now that her aunt has passed away, she’s ready to carve out a path for herself. This should have been the beginning of the rest of her life — or at least that was the plan. Without education and a promising suitor, Hearne is left with just the straws she grasps in her hands.
This book resonated because I have been thinking a lot about the multiple identities we take on as individuals. It’s fine if you identify the most with your job or being a spouse, but what happens if you lose your job? What happens if the marriage fails? When so much of who you are is dependent on those identities, what happens when they are suddenly stripped away?
For decades, Hearne too had two identities: a caregiver and a Catholic. This book is about what happens when these identities are taken away, what happens when you attempt to fill the hole with alcohol, as well as what happens when even your faith — the one thing that should remain steadfast — is shaken by doubt.
I also love Moore’s criticism of the treatment of women at the time, how little education they were afforded, since they were meant for marriage anyway. Moore also has scathing things to say about the Catholic Church, not as a religion per se, but as an institution, and how prayer was the end-all-be-all cure for mental health issues.
I didn’t quite expect this book to take the turns that it did, but I am glad where it ended up. It’s not the most uplifting book, but it has such an important, potent message to say.