Book Details:
Format: Paperback
Source: Library
Read: December 2017
Synopsis:
Winner of the 2014 Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction
One Book Nova Scotia Selection 2014
Claudia, single mother of two young children, pines for her past independent life. Her ex, after all, has moved on to a new wardrobe, a new penchant for lattes–and worst of all, new adult friends. But in Claudia’s house she’s still finding bananas in the sock drawer and cigarettes taped to wrestling figures. Then Claudia receives the unexpected news that her mother has died.
Shared through the hilarious, honest, and often poignant perspective of a single mother, Roost is the story of a woman learning about motherhood while grieving the loss of her own mother. And as she begins to mend, she’s also learning that she might be able to accept her home–as it is.
My ThoughtsI don’t even remember what originally drew me to this book. I had been searching random Canadian lists on my library’s website and the great thing about my library is that if you go there, they have little maple leaf stickers on the spines of their books by Canadian authors. So it’s great to just browse through the stacks and look for the sticker and find some books I might not have heard of otherwise.
When I read the synopsis about this book, that it was about a mother of two young children, who wants to go back to the days before kids, I was in. I immediately started reading it at the beginning of this month and right from the first page I loved Ali Bryan’s writing. It’s completely accessible and addicting, and this book was perfect for myself – a mom to two young kids.
Motherhood is freaking hard, and Ali Bryan writes it so bluntly. Claudia, the main character, is such an unlikeable character, but as a mom, I get her and I loved her. I could see that she was completely unlikeable and maybe that would be something that would turn people off of this book, but I just loved her character because there are days I can see myself in her.
I have a friend who’s family seems to heap piles of work on top of her, despite the fact that she has two young kids, and this was Claudia. So much happened in this book and her asshole brother couldn’t be bothered to help with anything, so it all fell on Claudia. I seriously wanted to kick her brother in the ass because he was just a jerk! The only thing I couldn’t relate to with Claudia is the fact that she’s a single mom and there are glimpses where you might think she’s getting back together with her ex, but I think the whole story is about moving on and just surviving. Reading this book as a mom was exhausting. The book is fiction but I wanted to reach out and just help Claudia.
I loved this book and about a third of the way through I had to go look up Ali Bryan to see if she had anything else in the works and I was so excited to see that she has a book coming out in 2018! She is definitely one to watch and I can’t wait to read her next book. If this book is any indication, it’s going to be great. Highly recommended – especially for the weary mothers in the world.
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