Three months
ago, Willa had arrived in Rhode Island, embracing moments of calm, quiet, and
the lack of urgency. “There was nowhere that she had to be,
no lectures to give, no
papers to grade,
no research to be done, no colleagues to impress. None of that mattered
now; perhaps it never would again.” (5)
In mourning
for her father and her aunt—her only family—Willa was cocooned in a shell of
her former self, hibernating away in the winter months while living in her aunt’s
estate. “A simple, logical self analysis told her that she was going
through the stages
of grief. It was
perfectly normal to isolate herself from her loss. But only Willa knew
what she was truly grieving: the loss of her own self, the loss of the little
girl she could have been, the young
woman she might
have been. “ (8)
Then, out of
the blue, Willa wins a home renovation by the Rhode Island Home Show, which
will be filmed for an upcoming series.
Writing was
well-versed and had a lovely lilt. Intelligent and thought-provoking, story is
of a fragile woman in search of a new beginning, to live life on her own terms
controlled by nothing but her own needs and desires. Willa’s quest for
independence and self-worth was certainly admirable and endearing. At times, however, the filming, the
renovations, and the historical facets added tedium and lag. The book certainly follows the classic formula
for women’s literary fiction—an empowering tale with a strong lead character. I thought it was a pretty good read—a decent
prose of mediocrity and inspiration.
My rating: 3 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment