This is my review for Amazon:
It is very obvious that ALW's writing has matured with this follow up to "The Final Bath." I found myself very engaged with the characters - to the point that I got annoyed whenever certain characters had the floor and wanted to back hand them because I wanted them to shut up. It's a very fine line to write obnoxious dialogue without annoying the reader (so I've found), and ALW succeeded admirably.
Food - consumption - is a running theme throughout the book. Right from the get go, I found myself hoping she'd stick to her diet and when she gave in and went to McDonald's I wished I was sitting next to her to give her encouragement and suggest we go to Subway instead. I appreciated her making the distinction between working in a mortuary and working at a medical examiner's office; it took a completely different type of coping mechanism dealing with freshly dead bodies as opposed to gussying them up for a viewing.
It's impossible not to root for Louise - even when she's being nasty and/or snappy with her family, I found her to be sympathetic simply because she was aware of how she was coming across but she seemed powerless to stop it. Thankfully, things get better and not worse, so I wasn't left wondering how such a person could be married with a child. Her work situation, on the other hand, was appalling. I really hope she was using her imagination in the telling of this part of the story.
Amber needs to write another novel already!! (Also - don't miss out on "The Distribution of Fluids" - fabulous stories!)
It is very obvious that ALW's writing has matured with this follow up to "The Final Bath." I found myself very engaged with the characters - to the point that I got annoyed whenever certain characters had the floor and wanted to back hand them because I wanted them to shut up. It's a very fine line to write obnoxious dialogue without annoying the reader (so I've found), and ALW succeeded admirably.
Food - consumption - is a running theme throughout the book. Right from the get go, I found myself hoping she'd stick to her diet and when she gave in and went to McDonald's I wished I was sitting next to her to give her encouragement and suggest we go to Subway instead. I appreciated her making the distinction between working in a mortuary and working at a medical examiner's office; it took a completely different type of coping mechanism dealing with freshly dead bodies as opposed to gussying them up for a viewing.
It's impossible not to root for Louise - even when she's being nasty and/or snappy with her family, I found her to be sympathetic simply because she was aware of how she was coming across but she seemed powerless to stop it. Thankfully, things get better and not worse, so I wasn't left wondering how such a person could be married with a child. Her work situation, on the other hand, was appalling. I really hope she was using her imagination in the telling of this part of the story.
Amber needs to write another novel already!! (Also - don't miss out on "The Distribution of Fluids" - fabulous stories!)
