Madwoman

★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10

320 pages

What’s it about?

Clove has chosen the life she wants and has taken extreme measures to make it happen. Now, a letter from her mother in prison may upend everything she has planned. She has worked so hard for this life and nothing can ruin it.  "But I was deep in by now, addicted to self-improvement, each new supplement pulling me further away from my past."  But all the right vitamins, health foods, and gratitude meditation will not make this problem go away.

What did it make me think about?

Domestic abuse and what it leaves behind.

Should I read it?

I can take a depressing book- but this was a hard one. It is touted as a suspense-thriller but halfway through I was thinking, "This is a serious novel about domestic abuse".  At times this was difficult to read- but the main character pulled me in.  What book club wouldn't talk at length about the control issues in this novel?  The last third of the story does morph into a suspense-thriller.  I did not anticipate the ending...   The book is dedicated to the author's mother and rings with authenticity.  Chelsea Bieker is a brave author- and those of you who can take a hard book will be rewarded.

A passage I marked

"You were concerned about fairness, Mother, but what was fair about what you and my father put me through?  My entire life devoted to the war of you both."