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The Forrests (2012)

by Emily Perkins(Favorite Author)

3.24 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0385663730 (ISBN13: 9780385663731)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Bond Street Books

review 1: The reviews of this book are very mixed, and at first I was with the thumbs down brigade- I got to around page 50 and was on the verge of giving up. This is because of the way it's written, as a series of almost vignettes that, taken together, illustrate key features about the Forrest family, principally Dorothy. The chapters drop into moments in their lives, and often seemingly trivial incidents and experiences reveal deeper layers of emotions, obsessions, relationships and so on, often with gaps of several years. Some of the Forrests are never really fleshed out, we only see them occasionally and through Dorothy's eyes. After a while, though, it really drew me in, and then I couldn't stop reading, and I think it will linger in my memory for a long ... moretime.
review 2: During the first few pages of The Forrests, I had a flashback to Owls Do Cry (which I haven’t read in the last 20 years) and I couldn’t shake it. I think that’s a great compliment to Emily Perkins skill as a writer, particularly given I also started the novel slightly cynically having had a negative reaction to her first novel Leave Before You Go some years ago. Like Daphne (with Toby and Chicks) in ODC, Dot in Forrests has her brother and sisters at the heart of her musings. Forrests is more accessible and not as intense but the style has that same sense of snapshots (though not always so flattering that you would choose to save them in the family album) and meticulous visual imagery that leaves you tasting, smelling and feelings each scene. I can’t say I enjoyed it (and I never did enjoy ODC either) but it did leave me with an incredible sense of sadness (no tears mind you) for the Dot’s regrets and sense of loneliness. Perkins treats Dot so tenderly that it’s impossible not to care for her and that’s enough for me to be glad I have read this novel. less

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