Book Review - Nan's Story

Nan's Story by Paige Farmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes you read a book where the main character reaches out and grabs your heart. You think, "This person could be my friend. This person could be me." The character is real in a way that some people in books are not. They are real in a way that makes you think of your neighbour or your grandparent or your teacher at school. That's who Nan was to me.

Nan is a product of an unstable home in a stable time in history. During the idyllic fifties, she is living in a home with an angry, critical mother and an unstable, alcoholic father as well as older brothers that seem to alternately bully and caretake her. Is it any wonder that she becomes her own worst enemy? Nan sabotages much in her life, partly from entropy. It seems easier for her to just go along with the world, with what others want, rather than take a stand for her own life. And so, slowly, her world begins to crumble around her. Mistake after mistake seems to create a compound effect, until she is a shell of herself, living in her mother and stepfather's home, sometimes almost nonfunctional, and ignoring her child, CJ, who needs a mother so desperately that he has turned to his grandmother for nearly all of his emotional wants.

The first couple of chapters of this book are a little shaky, but it's very clear that the author refined her craft as she wrote, as her style evolved through the book to become much more polished. She's a good storyteller with a tale that catches hold and won't let go - unfortunately it waits til past the halfway point to give that real catch. It's worth the wait, though, as eventually it reaches the "can't put it down" stage and at that point, you're really in for an interesting ride.

I found myself really caught up in Nan's emotional traumas and turmoils. I felt for her, which is unique - to have created a character that people relate to in such an intimate way is a gift. I'm kind of surprised that a big publishing house hasn't picked this up, but since it's really "novella" size - which isn't super popular right now - I guess I shouldn't be. A nice read, touching and emotional in all the right places.

*Book received through Goodreads First Reads program

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