This was one of the most dark, depressing, and eerie books that I've read since reading the book "Room". The book is about Olivia, who hasn't seen her family in 12 years, finally visits her mother at the chateau as a result of leaving her abusive husband. Soon after, Olivia's brother arrives at the chateau with his wife Sophia and their still born child. Marcus and Sophia need to bury their child, but doesn't because of Sophia's grief. Instead, Sophia needs to get to know her child before burying her. Sophia's grief became so intense that she wouldn't bury the baby. The baby starts to decay, and the family takes "measures" to preserve the body..Soon after, Olivia creates a plot where her son and daughter go out on the lake on a canoe...The children learn of a small hole in the canoe. They pretend to be drowning, and the girl pretends to die..This is all an act to make it seem that it was Olivia's daughter that dies, not Sophia's daughter. Soon after, they bury Sophia's daughter (not Olivia's daughter). Life then goes on as normal. I just didn't understand this book. I don't have children so I don't understand the concept of losing a child. BUT, I've been told that when you lose a child, even during pregnancy, the grief is intense. I will give Sophia that much. But at times, I wanted to just reach in to the book, take the baby, and bury her!!! I wanted to say that you can still grieve even though the baby is not with her!! Also, I wanted to know more Olivia and her husband..not just that she left him because of abuse, and that she had "murdered" him. We knew more about Sophia and her struggles than we did of Olivia's problems. I also wanted to know what happened to Olivia and her family after the burial. An eerie, dark story that I'm not entirely sure how to rate. It's beautifully written--the only thing I found awkward was the way the central character and her children are referred to as "the woman," "the boy," and "the girl," even after their names have been given in the dialog (it seemed a pretension rather than something truly symbolic)--and the story is intriguing. So many things about the book threw me off balance. The surreal mixes with the ordinary--but maybe things aren't surreal after all? Mentions of plasma televisions and cell phones seem out of place in the setting. The children are strangely adult. It's unclear whether the outside world menaces this family, or if this family's history is simply full of its own menaces.I do wonder if I might like the story more (or even just know how I feel about it) if it had been longer. I realize it's a novella, but while some short works seem complete, this was one that made me want more. Maybe the sparse details work in a way. Perhaps if it were a longer, fuller story I wouldn't be so very stuck on it. Still, I don't know whether this book is pretentious and overrated, or absolutely amazing.
Do You like book Disquiet (2008)?
Very dark, but well written. Not my cup of tea, but still an interesting story.
—guia
A grimly beautiful, beautifully grim little book.
—kmsmith
