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The Painted Table: Honoring Mother--By Not Becoming Her (2011)

by Suzanne Field(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1935507699 (ISBN13: 9781935507697)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Ambassador-Emerald International

review 1: In 1858, a tree is felled that will become a table. In 1921, widowed immigrant Knute Kirkeborg is trying to eke out a living farming the harsh North Dakota prairie, supporting seven daughters and two sons. Daughter Joann hides under the huge kitchen table as she mourns her mother, who died in a Hospital for the Insane.In 1943, Joann is left at home with her toddler, Sapphire Eve, while husband Nels serves in the navy, yet Joann has no idea how to be a mother, because her own mother was always too busy with the baby. Her parenting style is detached to the point of emotional neglect, because she never learned otherwise. As a result, Saffee doesn’t learn either. The Painted Table isn’t a conventional novel. Rather, it is selecting vignettes through Joann and Saffee’s li... moreves that show the family story. As a result, at times it feels as though nothing is happening. It’s a curious technique, more literary than genre and sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether the main character in the story is Joann, Saffee, or mental illness. This lack of clarity around plot and character did mean the story dragged in places, as I was wondering when something was going to happen. I wanted to like The Painted Table. The writing is different to what we normally see in Christian fiction, and part of me wanted to like the more literary style. And I wanted to like it because it’s different, not the typical western or Amish romance that makes up so much of Christian fiction. I wanted something that was a little more challenging, but that I would find ultimately rewarding. It had potential, but in the end I didn’t enjoy it because there was too little plot, too little character development, and too much theme. Thanks to Thomas Nelson and Booksneeze for providing a free ebook for review.
review 2: The table, a family heirloom, holds deep meaning for both Joann and her daughter Soffee. For Joann, the table was a place of refuge for a lonely little girl, who was shown so little love. The table also represented fearful and horrifying memories for Joann. In her madness she paints the table, trying to exorcise her demons. Soffee's childhood in many ways is defined by her mother, and this often isolated her from others. Yet, her mother possessed some qualities that Soffee could embrace. Soffee's father, Nels, loves Soffee and her sister April, but is too often consumed in concern and care of his wife, and the gradual descent of her mental illness. For Soffee, she finds redemption in removing the many layers of paint in restoring the table to it's original beauty. Soffee finds role models in special teachers, her faith, and in friendship and her beloved husband, Jack. She slowly emerges from her cocoon to blossom into a beautiful butterfly. Interspersed with bible verses and the redemption found in faith, but in a wonderfully subtle way. less

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