This book has one of the best titles I've encountered in literature. I was even more pleased when I heard that the Irish O'Farrell is a gifted storyteller. Praise for her other well-titled work, Instructions for a Heatwave, finally persuaded me to dust this one off from the upstairs shelves and give it a go.
This is a quiet story detailing the story of two couples. One couple's narrative is set in the past, in 1950's and 60's London. Lexie Sinclair has just escaped her stifling small town and come to work as a secretary for the enigmatic Innes Kent, an editor for the magazine Elsewhere. Their tumultuous affair is interspersed with life in the artistic era of post-war Soho. Fast forward to present day London where we meet Elina, a gifted painter and Ted, a movie editor. Their infant son has been born under difficult circumstances and the couple is entering into parenthood with this health struggle in addition to the usual trepidation and fatigue a newborn brings. There is a hidden connection that binds these couples, and this is the journey into their lives and the crossroads where their paths intersect.
I think any female who has experienced childbirth (whether it was a mostly positive or negative experience), will relate to the opening scenes in this book. There is a scene where Elina is disoriented from exhaustion and describes her husband leaving for work with dazed detachment. It brought my post-baby experience to top of mind and put me right back in that anxious state-especially of the first child! However, O'Farrell highlights the incredible bond and positive nature of motherhood to balance the unnerving scenes.
Besides the post-baby scenes, I felt the book was just okay. Ted has flashbacks of his own childhood where there are discrepancies in his memories. This is supposedly triggered by having his own child, but it seemed like a convenient plot device. I would have preferred more of Elina's story to the other couple's journey, but the novel was still good.
I don't want this to sound like an exclusionist review, but I don't think the parenting stories would have nearly the punch-me-in-the-gut feeling if I didn't have kids. I recommend to anyone wanting to explore the power and change of children in our lives, but otherwise I might pass since other elements didn't seem strong enough to make their own entertaining story.
FINAL RATING:
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