Trigger warnings: Rape; mental, emotional, and physical abuse

I purchased this book a couple of years ago. In that time, I had completely forgotten the synopsis for the story. Today I decided to read and randomly plucked this book off of the shelf. I didn't read the synopsis. I just dove right in. I had no expectations for the book whatsoever.

This book surprised me. I can't say I 'liked' the book, because it was really not a happy story. But I think it was well-written and I am glad I read it.

What I liked:

1. The writing style. This is written in a very stark, no nonsense kind of way, which really fits the narrative extremely well. These characters live in a way that is very simple but also hard and potentially brutal. They are pretty much in the middle of nowhere living off the land in a place that can be harsh at the best of times. The austere nature of the writing reflects that very well. There are no flourishes or poetic turns of phrase. It could even be called simple, although I think it was crafted in a very intentional way.

2. Friendships. I had a hard time warming up to Lulu at first. She reminded me of Renee Zellweger's character in Cold Mountain and I found her to be a little cartoonish in the beginning. But as we learn more about her and her life and see the way that she takes Eveline under her wing, I found myself really loving her and their friendship. She sticks by her through thick and thin, even when things happen that she can hardly deal with.
I also liked that Gunther and Hux were so close. They are as different as two people could be, kind of like their mothers, but that doesn't stop them from being there for each other. It makes sense. They both share similar experiences as far as their upbringing, and even though their relationship is a little more antagonistic, I liked their friendship.

3. Multi-generational story. I had no idea that this was going to be a multi-generational story when I first started reading. When we jumped from 1940 to 1954 I will admit that I was slightly skeptical. It's not that I don't like these types of stories, but I felt like I wasn't done with Eveline and Emil's story. I wanted more from them. But I will say, it ended up really working for me, for the most part. It demonstrates how a single action, a single decision can affect the lives of not only the person making it, but also everyone around them as well as generations down the road.

What I didn't like:

1. Lack of connection. I found myself really invested in Eveline's story. I don't know if it's because it was a fish-out-of-water thing with her moving from her comfortable home to the wilderness and having to work her tail off to survive and provide for her son, or maybe just because she was a mother, but I felt emotionally attached to her and her story. When we moved on to the other characters, I just didn't feel that same connection. I feel like part of that could be attributable to the slightly distanced nature of the writing, or the fact that I felt like I didn't really know these people and I was just dropping into the middle of their established lives.

2. Telling, not showing. Now, this was the one downfall of the multi-generational story for me. We would jump from one point in time to another years later. We've had no resolution for the previous time's characters before jumping on. Eventually we would get an anecdote or even a flashback that would fill in the gaps, but it definitely made the impact less than it could have been. I didn't really feel as emotional about it as I wanted to.

3. Plot hole. It's definitely possible that this just wasn't explained properly to the reader, but there is a part where Lulu and Eveline learn that there will be an assessor out to their homes to assess the value of their home so they can be taxed. A man shows up and does the assessment, then later they learn that an ex-convict had stolen a government boat and was posing as a government employee. It seemed like we were supposed to believe that this ex-convict and the assessor who had shown up were one in the same. But how on Earth would a random ex-con know to show up at these specific houses and what to say to get entry? It made no sense to me.

I am so glad I read this book after it sat on my shelf for nearly two years. Even though it was tragic most of the way through, I ended up really appreciating it.