Friday 4 September 2015

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb


Reviewer: Liza Perrat, author of Spirit of Lost Angels and Wolfsangel

What we thought: Right from the start, I knew this was one of those books I wouldn’t want to end. And I was right. Around the 80% mark on the Kindle I started feeling sad that I was reaching the end.

One of the few truly life-changing stories I’ve read, She’s Come Undone is the coming-of-age story of Dolores Price, victim of rape, divorce, abuse and mental illness.

Dolores, an unconventional heroine––albeit a very likeable one––drowns her woes in soap operas and junk food, munching her way relentlessly into obesity, sorrow and social isolation. But one day, in the midst of this gluttony, Dolores decides she’ll no longer be a victim, and we join the feisty Dolores in her journey out the other side.

As I was reading, I kept asking myself, how could a male, middle-aged author get inside the head of a young girl so perfectly? How can he narrate a first-person female story so convincingly? But he does, and I found She’s Come Undone to be a literary masterpiece of characterisation and, weeks after reading it, I still sympathise with Dolores Price.

You’ll enjoy this if you like:
novels by Anne Tyler, Sue Monk Kidd, Maggie O’Farrell

Avoid if you don’t like: character-driven stories about dysfunctional people and their even more dysfunctional families.

Ideal accompaniments: several free days… you won’t want to put it down!

Genre: Literary Fiction.

Available from Amazon

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