book review: Women by Chloe Caldwell

The basics:  "Women is a novella about falling in love with a woman, about loving women, about being a woman. It is a novella about a mother and a daughter. A novella about female friendships that blur the line of romance. A novella about a woman who, after having her first sexual relationship with a woman, goes on a series of (comical) OK Cupid dates with other women. A novella about a woman in her twenties who doesn't know if she's gay or straight or bi. A novella about falling in love and having your heart broken and figuring out what to do next. The book is an urgent recall of heartbreak, of a stark identity in crisis."--publisher

My thoughts: Despite many people assuring me I couldn't possibly read as much once I had a baby (I hit 100 books for the year last week), I still read a lot. I read differently. I listen to more audiobooks than I used to. And I read in short spurts, with the exception of weekend naps. Despite still carving out a lot of time for reading, I find I miss one-sitting books. There's something magical about sitting down to read a book and finishing it before you get up again. So when I decided to read Women, I strategized. I wanted to read it one sitting. I picked a night when Mr. Nomadreader was working, and after I put Hawthorne to bed, I sat down with a glass of wine and this novella. An hour later, I paused because I didn't want it to end. This book had different ideas for me.

I put off writing this review for months. Sometimes when I love a book so much, I find I have little coherent to say about it. This novella made me feel like I was falling in love with a writer and a character. I confess to always being fascinated by what's 'true' and what's not, but in Women, I didn't really care. If Caldwell was writing about her own experiences or fictional experiences, it didn't matter. The emotions and actions on the page were so real, I felt comforted. This is a novella that made me feel like I wasn't alone in the world.

Favorite passage:  "There is so much out there I don't know, never knew, have to learn, will never understand."

The verdict: Women is a bold, honest, raw novella. It's ostensibly the story of one young woman and her experiences, but there's a universality to Caldwell's prose I could not shake. Women changed me. It connected me to this fictional character in a beautiful way.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Length: 144 pages
Publication date: October 15, 2014
Source: library

Convinced? Treat yourself! Buy Women from Amazon (Kindle edition.)

Want more? Visit Chloe Caldwell's website and follow her on Twitter.

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