Despite my lack of activity on the blog, I have actually been reading like a house on fire. I finished The Wave by Susan Casey, quickly devoured As Husbands Go by Susan Isaacs (one of my favorite authors), and savored The Widower's Tale by Julia Glass. Not every book warrants or deserves a review, but I have several great books to discuss in the coming weeks.
Fall is the most wonderful time of the year in book publishing, and for avid readers like myself, there is almost no end to new releases waiting to be devoured. In my current pile of books via for attention are:
By Nightfall, by Michael Cunningham
Russian Winter, by Daphne Kalotay
How to Be An American Housewife, by Margaret Dilloway
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Steig Larsson
Let's Take the Long Way Home, by Gail Caldwell
Ape House, by Sara Gruen
Right now, it's Ape House that's won a place on my nightstand....and I can barely put it down. Happy reading!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
A Woman's Worst Nightmare
When I was in college, I had a part-time job doing surveys, and during one particularly fun period, I would sit in model homes on weekends and survey the people who toured them. It was somewhat creepy - there were long hours alone, and I never knew who was going to walk through the door. In Still Missing, Chevy Stevens takes a similar situation and turns it into a woman's worst nightmare.
Annie O'Sullivan is a young, single realtor with a quirky family and a tragic past. (I realize we might not know each other, but I don't believe in "spoilers," so I won't reveal anything that will ruin the plot). She is abducted from the house she is showing one pleasant afternoon, and taken by a seemingly-harmless, jovial man who ties her up,drugs her, and takes her to a house custom-fitted for her confinement. Thus begins a period of abuse, dependence, and depravity which Annie (and we, as readers) endures.
Still Missing's strength comes not from the plot itself - some of the details and the final plot twist are weak at times - but in the insight into what it means to be held captive, and to be entirely dependent on someone else for survival. At one point in her captivity, Annie says that you may firmly believe that the sky is blue, but if the only person you see for months tells you that it's green, eventually you will start to question yourself. While those of us that live without abuse find that hard to believe, it is a way of life for many people.
Even with it's flaws, Still Missing is a gripping and haunting book - read it, but do so with the lights on.
Annie O'Sullivan is a young, single realtor with a quirky family and a tragic past. (I realize we might not know each other, but I don't believe in "spoilers," so I won't reveal anything that will ruin the plot). She is abducted from the house she is showing one pleasant afternoon, and taken by a seemingly-harmless, jovial man who ties her up,drugs her, and takes her to a house custom-fitted for her confinement. Thus begins a period of abuse, dependence, and depravity which Annie (and we, as readers) endures.
Still Missing's strength comes not from the plot itself - some of the details and the final plot twist are weak at times - but in the insight into what it means to be held captive, and to be entirely dependent on someone else for survival. At one point in her captivity, Annie says that you may firmly believe that the sky is blue, but if the only person you see for months tells you that it's green, eventually you will start to question yourself. While those of us that live without abuse find that hard to believe, it is a way of life for many people.
Even with it's flaws, Still Missing is a gripping and haunting book - read it, but do so with the lights on.
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