Book Review: Standard deviation - K. Heiny

“It occurred to Graham that here, finally, was the similarity between the two women he’d chosen to marry: they were both totally unrufflable, one out of iciness, the other out of obliviousness.” 

I loved this book for the first half, it's bubbly, dynamic and very different from the "norm" as the main voice is the one of the husband but the novel is written by a woman.
It is intriguing to read the way the husband sees his wife and how it relates to family life in general.
From the second half of the book though,
I found the story a bit tedious, nothing really happened and the same concepts are repeated over and over again. The issues related to parenting a "non-standard" son are barely touched, which is a pity as the theme could have been developed more in depth.
In summary a pleasant enough read, nothing special though.

Overall rating:  6    Plot: 6   Writing style: 6,5    Cover:  6,5

Title: Standard deviation

Author: Katherine Heiny
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Pages: 336
Publication year: 2017

The Plot:

Graham’s second wife, Audra, is an unrestrained force of good nature. She talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. When she decides to make friends with Elsbeth – Graham’s first wife and Audra’s polar opposite – Graham starts to wonder: how can anyone love two such different women? And did he make the right choice?

The Author:

Katherine Heiny is the author of Single, Carefree Mellow, a collection of short stories. Her fiction has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and many other places. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and children.

Book Review: Da soli - C. Comencini

Due coppie di amici sopra i 50 anni che "scoppiano" allo stesso momento, dopo che i figli sono diventati grandi ed hanno lasciato casa.
Marta lascia il marito perche' quando e' con lui si sente angosciata. Laura viene lasciata dal marito il quale non sente di essere amato - e la tradisce da una vita.

Overall rating:  7,5    Plot: 7   Writing style: 7,5    Cover:  7

Title: Da soli

Author: Cristina Comencini
Publisher: Einaudi
Pages: 168
Publication year: 2018

The plot:
Ci si incontra sotto la luna, sul ponte di una nave, e ci si innamora. Venticinque anni dopo ci si lascia chissà dove e perché, senza bisogno della luna. «C'è sempre un momento, che sia un anno speciale o dopo un avvenimento irrilevante, in cui realizzi che hai cominciato a nasconderti». È successo così anche ad Andrea e Marta e a Laura e Piero che ora, increduli, fanno i conti con la solitudine. Nelle loro storie si rispecchiano e si rincorrono tutti i modi che abbiamo di affrontare i nostri sentimenti. La furia di chi scappa, la calma di chi resta, il silenzio irreale delle stanze vuote, le serie Tv sul divano la sera, la strana complicità dei figli grandi, la riscoperta del corpo, il tempo lungo dei pensieri. Cristina Comencini racconta tutto quello che avviene quando un matrimonio entra in crisi: la collezione dei perché (o la febbre di cancellarli), lo slancio verso il futuro (o il culto del passato), la disillusione che spunta da tutte le parti, la certezza che niente cancellerà quella storia d'amore. Attraverso le parole dei suoi personaggi, costruisce una storia valorosamente sentimentale: la vita di chi, pur avendone già vissuta una, ha l'audacia di cambiare.

The Author:
Cristina Comencini è nata e vive a Roma. Figlia del regista Luigi Comencini e madre di Carlo, Giulia e Luigi, esordisce al cinema come attrice nel 1969, diretta dal padre in Infanzia,vocazione e prime esperienze di Giacomo Casanova, veneziano, accanto a Tina Aumont e Maria Grazia Buccella. Laureata in Economia e Commercio con Federico Caffè, lavora per alcuni anni come giornalista economica e ricercatrice. Inizia la carriera di scrittrice nel cinema sceneggiando insieme al padre il film TV Il matrimonio di Caterina (1982) ed il lungometraggio Buon Natale... Buon anno del 1989; è co-sceneggiatrice di Ennio De Concini in Quattro storie di donne (1986) ed autrice insieme a Suso Cecchi D’Amico dei televisivi Cuore e La Storia, entrambi diretti dal padre. Nel 1988 esordisce alla regia: Del 2005 è La bestia nel cuore, pellicola nominata all’Oscar come miglior film straniero e premiata al Festival del Cinema di Venezia con la Coppa Volpi per l’interprete femminile protagonista, Giovanna Mezzogiorno. Nel 1991 pubblica Pagine strappate, il suo primo libro: 

Attiva anche in campo teatrale, Cristina Comencini esordisce sul palcoscenico nel 2006 dirigendo Due partite, un viaggio nell’universo femminile tratto da un testo scritto di suo pugno ed interpretato da Margherita Buy, Isabella Ferrari, Marina Massironi e Valeria Milillo. 

Book Review: I liked my life - A. Fabiaschi

“She always told me, “When the world gives you a hard time, pick up a book and join another.” 

A heartbreaking novel, a story that touches your heart and soul in hundreds of different ways, depending who the reader is.
Told from three different point of view, the mother, the father, the daughter, the story untangles the "what if", the regrets and the guilt father and daughter feel after the wife/mother suicide.
And a lot comes out about the role of housewives, the sacrifices a woman does for her family, the little things that gives a woman recognize for her work. The story also covers father/daughter relationship, one that always had the mother in the middle before her death and which now becomes nude and needs building from scratch.
A very touching novel, well written and poignant.  Not 100% convinced about the end, but somehow was expected. Overall, a great read, highly recommend it.

Overall rating:  8    Plot: 8   Writing style: 7    Cover:  6

Title: I liked my life

Author: Abby Fabiaschi
Publisher: St Martin's
Pages: 288
Publication year: 2017

The Plot:

Maddy is a devoted stay-at-home wife and mother, host of excellent parties, giver of thoughtful gifts, and bestower of a searingly perceptive piece of advice or two. She is the cornerstone of her family, a true matriarch...until she commits suicide, leaving her husband Brady and teenage daughter Eve heartbroken and reeling, wondering what happened. How could the exuberant, exacting woman they loved disappear so abruptly, seemingly without reason, from their lives? How they can possibly continue without her? As they sift through details of her last days, trying to understand the woman they thought they knew, Brady and Eve are forced to come to terms with unsettling truths. Maddy, however, isn't ready to leave her family forever. Watching from beyond, she tries to find the perfect replacement for herself. Along comes Rory: pretty, caring, and spontaneous, with just the right bit of edge...but who also harbors a tragedy of her own. Will the mystery of Maddy ever come to rest? And can her family make peace with their history and begin to heal?

The Author:

Abby Fabiaschi is a human rights advocate and co-founder of Empower Her Network, a nonprofit that paves a path for survivors of human trafficking with a will for independence. In 2012 Abby resigned from her executive post in high tech to pursue a career in writing. I Liked My Life is her first novel. She and her family divide their time between West Hartford, Connecticut, and Park City, Utah.

June 2018 Wrap up

Here is my wrap up for June 2018: two great novels, two disappointing ones, some pleasant reads.

Click on the titles for the full mini review

A misura d'uomo - R. Camurri

Frammentario, interessante all'inizio e basta, molto etilico.

Rating:  6 out of 10

Greatest hits - L. Barnett

Absolutely loved it, sublime writing style, made me cry.
Rating:  10 out of 10

Manhattan Beach - J. Egan
Not for me I am afraid, I gave up after the first 30 pages...
Rating: Abandoned

The heart's invisible furies - J. Boyne
Starts really well, then tedious.
Rating: Abandoned

La vita fino a te - M. Bussola
Una serie di anedotti su amore e varie. Piacevole ma dimentichevole.
Rating:  6 out of 10

The wife - M. Wolitzer
A profund inside of women in the publishing world in the 60s and 70s. Great prose.
Rating:  7 out of 10

I liked my life - A. Fabiaschi
A touching, deep novel about family relationships. Great read.
Rating;  8 out of 10

Da soli - C. Comencini
Coppie che scoppiano a tarda eta', tradimenti, ritrovamenti, un libro breve ma intenso.
Rating:  7,5 out of 10

Love after love - A. Hourston
The story of a family, of two lovers, of a professional woman. Gripping but quite sad.
Rating:  6,5 out of 10