Review from a Transgressive Fiction Fan
A splendid novel about the exploration of friendship and motherhood
This is a beautifully written novel about four women and the challenges they face of being a woman and a mother. Author Monica Drake’s style of writing is unique; it is absorbing, playful, lucid and thoughtful with words that captivates the minds and hearts of the readers. She looks at the characters she created in this story, and observes the tumultuous time of their lives. Sarah is a behavioral zoologist who studies mating behavior among zoo animals but at a loss when she wants to have her own family. Georgie is a young mother working hard and caring a young baby of her own, and Dulcet is a gym teacher. Nyla is a compassionate woman but could not deal with her own daughter who is heavily into drugs and occult. Nyla’s life ends tragically due to her Ectopian pregnancy with her baby lodged in her fallopian tubes, surrounded by her friends Sarah and Dulcet in the hospital. Looking at Nyla on deathbed, Dulcet says with tears in her eyes, “We were all having such a good time.” “Were we?” Sarah asks with muffled words. They couldn’t talk any more, crying was their language. Death of a close friend is chilling and dying while pregnant is even harder to accept. This is a poignant story that makes you laugh, cry, sad, depressed, and dejected at the harder side of life. The novel is a good read and the story flows effortlessly.
“Insightful” Review from a Mainstream Reader
The only reason I finished this book is because I started it. If you enjoy being depressed while you’re reading, this book is for you. Its about infidelity, infertility, animals having sex, drugs, prostitution, teenage angst, abuse. Its terrible. I think it was supposed to be funny. I didn’t laugh once. What a depressing read. I wish I could get the last few hours of my life back.