Monday, September 22, 2014

Review: Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley

Publisher: Harper
Pages: 272
Received: Received a copy from the publisher through Edelweiss

Release Date: March 4, 2014
Buy From Chapters.ca / Buy From BookDepository.com

Goodreads Synopsis:

Like Alice Munro and Colm Tóibín, Tessa Hadley possesses the remarkable ability to transform the mundane into the sublime—an eye for the beauty, innocence, and irony of ordinary lives that elevates domestic fiction to literary art. In Clever Girl, she offers the indelible story of one woman's life, unfolded in a series of beautifully sculpted episodes that illuminate an era, moving from the 1960s to today.

Written with the celebrated precision, intensity, and complexity that have marked her previous works, Clever Girl is a powerful exploration of family relationships and class in modern life, witnessed through the experiences of an Englishwoman named Stella. Unfolding in a series of snapshots, Tessa Hadley's involving and moving novel follows Stella from childhood, growing up with her single mother in a Bristol bedsit, into the murky waters of middle age.

It is a story vivid in its immediacy and rich in drama—violent deaths, failed affairs, broken dreams, missed chances. Yet it is Hadley's observations of everyday life, her keen skill at capturing the ways men and women think and feel and relate to one another, that dazzles, pressing us to exclaim with each page, Yes, this is how it is.

My Review:

I truly had an amazing experience reading this book, Tessa Hadley truly brings Stella's life out in the pages of the story. Not only do readers experience Stella growing up but it also shows how the environment affects people, as Stella grows up in the 1960's and moves through time.

Stella has a difficult life and she seems to fight back when she can, this story shows that some people will not let all this drama get to them and they will keep climbing and adapting to the changes around them. Readers meet Stella as a young girl who has a bright mind, but through many troubles she grows and learns about herself. This is a story about a smart girl who has some difficult decisions to make, and the people she meets throughout her life really change her experiences.

This is a book that truly shows the challenges of life that many people go through, and Tessa Hadley truly brings out an experience in her story. The relationships that Stella has through her life truly define how she turns out as an adult. I really enjoyed seeing the different people that come in and out of Stella's life and those that really help her learn how to do things. These people truly make a difference to Stella helping her get back on her feet after many troubling times.

It is nice to read a book that deals with such realistic situations, it is what truly kept me going with this story. I wanted to read about someone who has to deal with tough, real life problems, and seeing that they can get through life and fight through problems and come out stronger than before. Truly, this was an amazing book that I recommend to many people!

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...