Great way to end the year! This was really touching and hit something inside me. Elvis was a spunky nerdy kid and let her freak flag fly. 

One of my goals for 2025 is to eat more vegetables. So I started here: browsing vegetable-heavy recipes to see what inspired me. I bookmarked a few things! Stuffed tomatoes, stuffed onions. A few salads. 

No spice. All Christmas. Kinda dorky. 

Loved the organization of the stories. Would prefer less narration at the beginning of each section. Creativity abounds! 

I predicted the ending,

at least partly,  because of the title of the book.

Why would we be focusing so much on the Wife, and her trajectory, unless she actually was the writer? The impression Mozell left on her was that she'd never make it, why bother and her husband got propped up by her first, then everyone else. She lied and said his short story was good, she took his manuscript to her powerful job that he made her quit, she had all the talent. I didn't predict she'd take her story to Bone (ha, to Bone Joe royally) or that Joe would die from the shock of the threat of being exposed.

I loved the start of the book, her deciding she can't be with him anyone on the plane for him to go get an award - then knowing it was actually her award made it so much sweeter.

Good book! I think I'd probably enjoy a re-read knowing the ending now. And I would read more of Wolitzer!

This was heavier than I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be kind of cozy and slightly mysterious but it was heavier than that. Cut to me crying in the bathtub. 

Little predictable on the ending. 

Enjoyed the ride. Hannah wasn't the most likeable MC but she did seem kinda real and faceted. She wasn't all good, she wasn't all bad. Neither was William. The thrill of their letters was palpable to me, making me wonder if I would ever write to a serial killer, whatever pretense I used (would it be anger, like Hannah) to start the conversation? 

Predicted Hannah's arc, and figured out the main plot about 70% in. Does that mean it's bad? Nah. You don't want a book that's totally nonsensical in the plot, the dots have to connect together, don't they? So that was a way to connect the dots. 

Also the courtroom scenes reminded me of Red Rooms, the film about the French murderer Ludavic Chevalier. There was some of the same unsettling confusing behavior from Kelly Anne as there was with Hannah. 

The characters weren't as complex as I'd like and I didn't relate to the MC. I did enjoy the creeping suffocating atmosphere of wondering what was going on at the Deptford.