I am sad to announce that this will be one of Riordan’s last book that I buy. I will finish the Trials of Apollo series, but once it is done, I will not seek his books any further. Magnus Chase was not bad, on the contrary, it is a truly decent series! However, in preparing to write this critique, when I read over what I wrote about the first and second books which I read four and three years ago respectively, it is clear that the enjoyment that I got from reading Riordan’s books is simply not there anymore. Once again, do not get me wrong, Riordan’s books are a delight, but, as I grow older (and become further and further away from the target audience), I simply cannot connect to them as much as I used to. In order to cherish the memories of his books, I have to stop myself before I just grow bitter as I compare my reading experience now to what it was then.
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The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman 3.5/5 Français: La fille de Maggie *Thank you to MD for giving this book to me. *I read the ARC, not the final copy. Summary In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility—much like Maggie Hughes’ parents. Maggie’s English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don’t include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. But Maggie’s heart is captured by Gabriel Phénix. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption and get her life ‘back on track’. Elodie is raised in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. It’s a precarious enough existence that takes a tragic turn when Elodie, along with thousands of other orphans in Quebec, is declared mentally ill as the result of a new law that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages. Bright and determined, Elodie withstands abysmal treatment at the nuns’ hands, finally earning her freedom at seventeen, when she is thrust into an alien, often unnerving world. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie realizes she must take what she wants from life and go in search of her long-lost daughter, finally reclaiming the truth that has been denied them both. My thoughts It is always a pleasure to read about the place where you are from. Quebec, more precisely, Montreal, will always hold a dear place in my heart as my first home. However, it does not mean that I am all-knowing about life in Montreal, especially not in a place that drastically changes with every decade that passes. The Quebec that The Home for Unwanted Girls itself evolves drastically: from la Grande Noiceurto la Révolution tranquille. I can only begin to imagine how it was to live during those times with no internet, social media nor equal rights for all. The events featured in this book are especially hard-hitting if you consider they only happened 30 to 50 years ago. The Great Depression had passed, the Wars was over (only the Cold one remained). Agriculture, religion and family values are put forward by the Duplessis administration, times seemed to be moving forward when they were not. The Home for Unwanted Girls’biggest strength is capturing the image of what it was like to live during the Duplessis and, later, the Lesage era. It is well-researched and instructive on a plethora of subject such as life in Montreal, in the Eastern Townships and in the psychiatric wards throughout the province. More than that, it paints the picture of the prominence of the Church and of the atrocities of the ward system. It truly transports you to a period where children were treated as commodities of the state, where women were presumed guilty until proven innocent in cases of rape and incest, where rural life is idealized as a “moral-ier” path. However well Goodman depicts those power dynamics, the novel lacked depth when it came to another core issue of the time. Language relations have always been a tricky subject in Quebec history and Goodman does not dive deep enough for my liking. There is palpable tension between both, but it is superficial and unsatisfactory. One must understand that it is not just about language, but also religion, money and power. She stuck to the clichés of the dirty Francophone worker and the rich Anglophone entrepreneur or banker, and the Romeo and Juliette story where the two fall in an impossible love. I simply wanted more. The Home for Unwanted Girls is well-written. Although I only read an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC), it already captured your gut during those rough moments (and there are a lot of them). This novel makes you so uneasy in so many ways, and I loved it. This feeling that something is not right, that your worth cannot be decided by a doctor nor limited to your womb's capacity, makes for a powerful delivery. However, it also makes it quite predictable as you know that, in the end, it will all be ok. Goodman does not reinvent literature nor is she trying to make the world a sadder place. The ending is clear from the very beginning and, while the twists and turns have their value, it is not an exciting read. Her book is predictable at times and, if you were describing the whole plot to a friend, they would say something along the lines of "that's so cliché". The book does have the interest of outlining two perspectives. Maggie and Elodie have distinct voices, each with their own personality that matches with their ages and environments. Elodie's perspective is interesting as she grows up in an orphanage but then is moved to the psychiatric wards. She never learns how to read or properly count. She is deprived of most social connections and sees death and illness all around her. Maggie is an anglophone living in a rural area where her father sells seeds. She went to school, grew up overprotected by her dad and was surrounded by vast fields of crops. As she grows up, she lives her life as freely as a woman could back then by getting a job in Montreal and being independent. Both are imprisoned, one by bars and the other by society. Once again, Goodman truly brings the picture to life as one could have pity for one and relate to the other. However, for Elodie's, I have always found reading children perspective's harder as I cannot identify with them. In her case, it also got a little redundant as we saw her motionless life year after year with not much change. Overall, The Home for the Unwanted Girls is a great prelude to Quebec 1950s-70s politics. It is one of those novels that transport you to the location as if you were breathing next to the characters in flesh and bone. Though it lacks some structural elements that would make it stand out as a strong novel, I believe its setting is enough to carry it through and makes it worth a read. If you’ve read it, do not hesitate to let me know what you taught down below! If you liked The House for Unwanted Girls, you will love… La femme qui fuit by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende Rue Deschambault by Gabrielle Roy |
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