I’m finished reading for the Silver Birch committee for the year, and was thrilled to be able to unfreeze the holds on some adult fiction library books that I’ve been waiting to read for quite a while. When I checked out a few books yesterday, I noticed that the due date, which is in three weeks, is the day school starts. What a cruel reminder that my days of leisurely reading are rapidly coming to a close!
I recently read one adult book that I had on my shelves, Oyster, by Canadian author Marianne Ackerman. This book is featured prominently on all the bookstore shelves, and I got a signed copy from the author when I was at the library conference in January. I was a bit put off by the cover, but it was quite short, the exact length I needed to take a break before finishing reading my last committee books. This book tells the story of Amelia Cameron, a once-bestselling author who is experiencing writer’s block. When her father dies suddenly, Amelia heads from her home in Toronto to Prince Edward County, where she grew up and where her father lived until his fateful fall from the roof. There she reconnects with both of her brothers, one she remains close to and the other somewhat estranged. She also reconnects with her estranged niece, Ginny, and eventually her sister, who has been living in Africa running a volunteer program for years. When Ginny tells her that she wants to be a writer and foists the outline of a novel on her to get her feedback, Amelia reluctantly accepts and reads the outline, providing feedback as requested. The resulting novel, The World is Your Oyster, takes the publishing world by storm but could shake the very foundations of her relationship with Ginny and her long-time publisher and ex-boyfriend Barry. Can the siblings figure out a way to get along? Can Amelia and Ginny save their relationship? Will Amelia ever write another novel? This novel was interesting and very well-written, and I’m glad to have read it, but it didn’t WOW me. The main problem I had with it was that I couldn’t decide what it was supposed to be about. Was the main theme the writing process, dealing with writer’s block and navigating the world of publishing? Was it family relationships, sibling rivalry and dealing with the death of the last surviving parent? Was it about finding a relationship and settling down? It was maybe too short to deal with all of these themes (and more!), leaving each one a bit too under-explored: they can all be in the same book, but it would need to be longer to delve into each theme thoroughly and satisfactorily (that’s just my opinion, but what do I know?!). I think I would still recommend it, as Ackerman writes beautifully and thoughtfully, and there were moments in the novel that really stood out and made me think about life and family and the way the choices we make determine the direction our lives will take.
That’s all for today. Get outside and read a good book!
Bye for now… Julie
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