The Almost Moon: A Novel
by Alice Sebold
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alice SeboldEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-16
ISBN: 0316677469
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Product features:
- First Edition
- Hardback
- Dust cover
- Collectible
- Sebold
Book Reviews of The Almost Moon: A Novel
Book Review: "Killing my mother came easily."
Summary: 2 Stars
In spite of the beginning of Sebold's novel, where she impulsively smothers her eighty-eight-year-old mother, Clair, the topic offers much material, the complicated relationships of mothers and daughters, especially the kind of toxic relationship that often develops in dysfunctional families. What is extraordinary- almost slapstick- is Helen's resolution to years of seething resentment, as well as her decision about what to do with the body, who to contact and what her actions will mean for the immediate future. The death is a fait accompli; once done, little is left but deciding the next step.
Sebold quickly disabuses me of any pretensions about this pathetic mother-daughter connection, a long history of rage, resentment and twisted love the hallmark of a mother and daughter who act out their tug of war on a small stage. Any similarity to other such situations end there- Helen's disposal of the body narrated with the embellishment of years of pain, their history related in a disturbing diatribe, giving vent to a girl's efforts to find love where there is none. At forty-nine, Helen is a mother and a grandmother, certainly having learned something along the way about what we pass on to our children. But Sebold clings to Helen's commitment to her action, regressing to an angry child raging at a terrible mother. In death, as in life, Clair has nothing to offer; her daughter having stolen her mother's bitter legacy, her last breath.
Sebold offers her readers but page after page of anguish, turmoil and a profound lack of love in a family of three. Ex-husband Jake, a stupid and meaningless coupling with her best friend's son and her recreation of an unfortunate childhood leave a vacuum in their wake, save a shocking decision by a daughter whose life might have been far less successful, given her family history. Helen chooses to descend into this madness, her adult life clearly different from her childhood. I find it impossible to fathom the point of this story, except perhaps as a matricidal fantasy. The Almost Moon is a human train wreck, the only fascination in passing the scene of the accident, a piece of work unremitting in its self-absorption. I simply cannot care about these characters or whatever purgative message the author intends. The title, "The Almost Moon", refers to an almost mother, never quite there, the perfect foil to an almost novel.
Whatever Sebold's talents, this novel fails to inspire me, a toxic stew that is vaguely repulsive for all its fantasy fulfillment; I haven't the energy to consider the context of this work, weighted by overwhelming emotional burdens that certainly describe Helen's state of mind and her years of denial at the hands of a selfish woman; but there is no meat here other than the temporary exorcising of Helen's demons, a daughter in eternal lock step with a destructive woman now that the deed is done. Luan Gaines/2007.
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