book review: May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
The backstory: May We Be Forgiven won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2013. The basics: May We Be Forgiven is the story of the very dysfunctional Silver family. Its main character is Harold, a Nixon scholar and adjunct professor. His brother George has an enviable career, life and family. My thoughts: The opening pages of May We Be Forgiven are a literary tour de force. Homes packs so much into its first fifty pages, and I was reading with delight, shock and awe. 'If this much has already happened,' I mused, 'where will the next 400 pages take me'? Sadly, Homes did not capitalize enough on the momentum she creates in the novel's first section. I read this novel relatively quickly and excitedly, but as I neared to the last 100 pages or so, I just wanted it to be over. I was no longer enjoying the story, which seemed by then to be an unnecessary sequel of a hit. Over all, May We Be Forgiven is a curious book. It is unquestionably brilliant at times....