A book that my mum bought for 1£ at the Red House in Bexleyheath,
I’m so very proud of her…
Like most critics, I found the novel’s opening sentence to be nothing
short of awesome. Unlike a number of critics, however, I did think the novel
was really good. As far as I could see, the portrayal of Helen, the main
character (and parricide), was criticized for being morally and intellectually
incoherent – but that’s what I thought was great, as I suppose the mind of a
daughter who has just killed her mother must be at least slightly shaken.
I also found the characterization of the love-hate relationship between
daughter and mother to be rather believable (and, I assume, accurate), and, in
all honesty, I sort of justified Helen (does that make me an awful person or a psychopath?
I hope not, and I actually think I’m rather sane, much like Helen’s former
husband thinks of her).
Most of all, the novel raises all sorts of questions about the need in
our society to work so terribly hard to keep the elderly alive – I wish we
could just let them go (although if we think they need a push, admittedly this can
be done in a better way!).
