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A review by mfraise05
The Healing by Jonathan Odell
1.0
I've been working on this book for about three weeks and cannot get through it. I'm calling it quits on page 101 which is a shame because it sounds like a story I would enjoy. However, I can't stand the younger version of the narrator Gran Gran (Granada in her youth) and it's taking far too long for Odell to really get into the meat of Polly Shine's character.
I find the writing lacking in its description of everything save the scenery of the Mississippi Delta and there's been an inability thus far to etch out any distinctive traits in any of the characters - for me, they could all be interchangeable save maybe for the mute little girl that Gran Gran is telling this story to who has just witnessed her mother's death. *shrug* I tried, really, I did.
Side note: I don't know who they paid to write the raving reviews on the back of this novel but they ought to be ashamed of themselves.
"...Odell gives voice to strong women at a time in history when their strength might have been their undoing. This moving story is a must-read for fans of historical fiction."
Rubbish, I say. The women I've encountered so far are as one-dimensional as they come. I didn't know until I gave up on the book that the author was caucasian and I would imagine it's difficult for a white male to write from the voice of black, enslaved, females. That being said, it seems it's the *effort* at sincerity that's making these characters flat and the emotion forced.
I find the writing lacking in its description of everything save the scenery of the Mississippi Delta and there's been an inability thus far to etch out any distinctive traits in any of the characters - for me, they could all be interchangeable save maybe for the mute little girl that Gran Gran is telling this story to who has just witnessed her mother's death. *shrug* I tried, really, I did.
Side note: I don't know who they paid to write the raving reviews on the back of this novel but they ought to be ashamed of themselves.
"...Odell gives voice to strong women at a time in history when their strength might have been their undoing. This moving story is a must-read for fans of historical fiction."
Rubbish, I say. The women I've encountered so far are as one-dimensional as they come. I didn't know until I gave up on the book that the author was caucasian and I would imagine it's difficult for a white male to write from the voice of black, enslaved, females. That being said, it seems it's the *effort* at sincerity that's making these characters flat and the emotion forced.