The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Hardcover
A sarcastic, cynical female protagonist, history, and time travel? Yes please! I jumped at this immediately when it went on sale.
I have this bad habit of quickly scanning through the first few reviews on Goodreads when I first add a book. I know I shouldn't do it, and I know I have what you could call an "easily influence-able personality". But it's hard to stop myself, and I did it again with this book. And reviews were mixed. And I went into the book with a heavy heart, not wanting to again be let down by a female-driven story. Especially written by a man.
But I've just come out on the other side and I am pleased to report this book lived up to my excited expectations. It is dark and grisly, not only emotionally, but also when dealing with war and illness and death. It does a fantastic job of illustrating the different lived experiences of a woman in 1918, 1941, and 1984 and contrasting them with how Greta deals with them. Not that it's heavy on feminist theory (you get a feeling Greta would call herself a feminist, but it's not her focus), but due to the issues she deals with in each time period, it's noticeable.
It would be easy to say this book was written by one of those people that think "I would have rather been alive in the 20s!" and that's where the story ends, but I think there is more to this story than that. There are nuances about twin siblings, about the AIDS epidemic, about war, about heartbreak, about friendship, about stereotypes, about choices. They are all simmering underneath. The only reason I can think that someone wouldn't enjoy this book is because none of these things are fully realized - but I think that's fair enough. Because these are all things Greta is dealing with and no one fully realizes anything in one calendar year of their lives (no matter the time period).
Either that or they don't like where she ended up, which is ludicrous, because she absolutely made the right choice.
I have this bad habit of quickly scanning through the first few reviews on Goodreads when I first add a book. I know I shouldn't do it, and I know I have what you could call an "easily influence-able personality". But it's hard to stop myself, and I did it again with this book. And reviews were mixed. And I went into the book with a heavy heart, not wanting to again be let down by a female-driven story. Especially written by a man.
But I've just come out on the other side and I am pleased to report this book lived up to my excited expectations. It is dark and grisly, not only emotionally, but also when dealing with war and illness and death. It does a fantastic job of illustrating the different lived experiences of a woman in 1918, 1941, and 1984 and contrasting them with how Greta deals with them. Not that it's heavy on feminist theory (you get a feeling Greta would call herself a feminist, but it's not her focus), but due to the issues she deals with in each time period, it's noticeable.
It would be easy to say this book was written by one of those people that think "I would have rather been alive in the 20s!" and that's where the story ends, but I think there is more to this story than that. There are nuances about twin siblings, about the AIDS epidemic, about war, about heartbreak, about friendship, about stereotypes, about choices. They are all simmering underneath. The only reason I can think that someone wouldn't enjoy this book is because none of these things are fully realized - but I think that's fair enough. Because these are all things Greta is dealing with and no one fully realizes anything in one calendar year of their lives (no matter the time period).
Either that or they don't like where she ended up, which is ludicrous, because she absolutely made the right choice.
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