Stephanie Jane recenzis Only the Lonely de Nicholson Joanne
An emotional rollercoaster
3 steloj
Only The Lonely is a real heartbreaker of a novel. Nicholson takes her readers on an amazingly emotional rollercoaster with extreme highs followed by just as deep lows. I think the storyline would appeal to readers who enjoy novels by Amanda Prowse and Jodi Picoult because it explores unusual familial relationship ideas and portrays ways in which different people can come together to fulfil supportive roles. Tiffany was a difficult character for me to like and I think this is probably because we never get to see her at her best. She is often selfish and condemns other people for their actions before committing very similar actions herself and expecting to be excused. Having experienced parental bereavement myself I could understand her overwhelming grief and I thought Nicholson portrayed this sensitively.
Tiffany's need to come to terms with her new situation takes the first half of the novel so we …
Only The Lonely is a real heartbreaker of a novel. Nicholson takes her readers on an amazingly emotional rollercoaster with extreme highs followed by just as deep lows. I think the storyline would appeal to readers who enjoy novels by Amanda Prowse and Jodi Picoult because it explores unusual familial relationship ideas and portrays ways in which different people can come together to fulfil supportive roles. Tiffany was a difficult character for me to like and I think this is probably because we never get to see her at her best. She is often selfish and condemns other people for their actions before committing very similar actions herself and expecting to be excused. Having experienced parental bereavement myself I could understand her overwhelming grief and I thought Nicholson portrayed this sensitively.
Tiffany's need to come to terms with her new situation takes the first half of the novel so we don't approach the situation explained in the synopsis until the main characters have been well established. Personally I didn't agree with Tiffany's desire to give birth to the embryo because I didn't think she had considered the rights and needs of resulting child as a full person in its own right. Instead, her fervent desire to replace some idea of family is very raw and poignant. I unfortunately wasn't convinced by the circle involving Cathy and her son. I can see why Nicholson chose to take this route, but for me it was just too much emotional manipulation and I didn't feel the story needed these connections.
Only The Lonely isn't the sort of book I would usually choose so I'm glad that I did enjoy the read overall. It poses interesting ethical and philosophical questions and could make for a divisive book club choice.