Adeline
4.75 stars Historical literary fiction following the lives in Canada and the US of two indigenous siblings: Joe, who struggles with anger and grief after the disappearance of his sister, and Norma, who is raised by a white family, until the secret of her real heritage is finally unearthed after decades.
I really devoured this book, since it features one of my favourite tropes (estranged family members), and truly this was a strong debut novel in my opinion. I loved the writing style, simple and engaging with some gorgeous turns of phrases. I particularly loved Norma’s point of view, her story was so touching and I felt for her when she discovered the truth, I liked how her anger was expressed. Joe’s point of view felt compelling, though there was a particular episode that made me dislike him. While I’m glad the author’s never tried to minimise it but it made his parts a soured experience to read afterward.
While events were shown in a compressed narrative, and it’s usually a style that makes me distant from the characters’ life and feeling, there was still an emotional resonance to the writing that made me feel for them. The last 30 pages made me cry so hard. There was a couple of plot elements that dragged a bit or that I wished arrived sooner, and the historical setting felt too generically described in a way. I feel that this book should not be marketed as a mystery because it’s pretty obvious from the synopsis that the disappearance of Norma is not the central focus or the why wasn’t important, and it felt more a reflection on various themes like, racism, struggles faced by indigenous communities, violence, motherhood, family, grief and guilt.
Overall a very touching and striking debut, I’m looking forward to read more of Amanda Peeters’ work.
4.75 stars Historical literary fiction following the lives in Canada and the US of two indigenous siblings: Joe, who struggles with anger and grief after the disappearance of his sister, and Norma, who is raised by a white family, until the secret of her real heritage is finally unearthed after decades.
I really devoured this book, since it features one of my favourite tropes (estranged family members), and truly this was a strong debut novel in my opinion. I loved the writing style, simple and engaging with some gorgeous turns of phrases. I particularly loved Norma’s point of view, her story was so touching and I felt for her when she discovered the truth, I liked how her anger was expressed. Joe’s point of view felt compelling, though there was a particular episode that made me dislike him. While I’m glad the author’s never tried to minimise it but it made his parts a soured experience to read afterward.
While events were shown in a compressed narrative, and it’s usually a style that makes me distant from the characters’ life and feeling, there was still an emotional resonance to the writing that made me feel for them. The last 30 pages made me cry so hard. There was a couple of plot elements that dragged a bit or that I wished arrived sooner, and the historical setting felt too generically described in a way. I feel that this book should not be marketed as a mystery because it’s pretty obvious from the synopsis that the disappearance of Norma is not the central focus or the why wasn’t important, and it felt more a reflection on various themes like, racism, struggles faced by indigenous communities, violence, motherhood, family, grief and guilt.
Overall a very touching and striking debut, I’m looking forward to read more of Amanda Peeters’ work.