Impressive. A genuinely thoughtful thriller that uses the mystery at its heart to explore survival, addiction, loyalty to your tribe ... the way that love can raise you up ... and hold you back.
I'm still processing this -- because there's a LOT to process here. And if I have one criticism, that's it -- that Moore could have done with a sympathetic editor who might have gently suggested trimming it here and there -- at times, it felt like it wallows, and indulges in unnecessary (if beautifully written) repetition and revisiting, and going over the same ground, just because she can. At about page 300, aware that I still had about 150 pages to go, I really wanted to say, could you please just get on with it?
But ... but, but, but .... I'm also willing to admit (processing, you see) that Moore is being very brave, testing the patience of her readers, because this isn't a simple whodunnit. It's a journey, and it's not about the destination -- the answers to the questions of who's murdering the sex workers and addicts of Kensington, Philadelphia, and is Kacey Fitzpatrick, the sister of our narrator, one of those victims?
And the journey is all about how Michaela ("Mickey") Fitzpatrick embarks on her own recovery -- from unbearable loss, from a toxic childhood, from chronic abuse, from the effects of a life spent reining in her dreams and ambitions. The question of who is doing the terrible things in Kensington is important, and topical, and (full credit to Moore) it does NOT come across as a McGuffin, which she is only spinning out to give her characters something to do, and indulge herself in fine prose. The world of Kensington that she constructs, and the struggles of Mickey Fitzpatrick to liberate herself from the aspects of it that have crippled her (emotionally, socially and professionally) feel very real and frighteningly well-observed.
I'm still processing this -- because there's a LOT to process here. And if I have one criticism, that's it -- that Moore could have done with a sympathetic editor who might have gently suggested trimming it here and there -- at times, it felt like it wallows, and indulges in unnecessary (if beautifully written) repetition and revisiting, and going over the same ground, just because she can. At about page 300, aware that I still had about 150 pages to go, I really wanted to say, could you please just get on with it?
But ... but, but, but .... I'm also willing to admit (processing, you see) that Moore is being very brave, testing the patience of her readers, because this isn't a simple whodunnit. It's a journey, and it's not about the destination -- the answers to the questions of who's murdering the sex workers and addicts of Kensington, Philadelphia, and is Kacey Fitzpatrick, the sister of our narrator, one of those victims?
And the journey is all about how Michaela ("Mickey") Fitzpatrick embarks on her own recovery -- from unbearable loss, from a toxic childhood, from chronic abuse, from the effects of a life spent reining in her dreams and ambitions. The question of who is doing the terrible things in Kensington is important, and topical, and (full credit to Moore) it does NOT come across as a McGuffin, which she is only spinning out to give her characters something to do, and indulge herself in fine prose. The world of Kensington that she constructs, and the struggles of Mickey Fitzpatrick to liberate herself from the aspects of it that have crippled her (emotionally, socially and professionally) feel very real and frighteningly well-observed.
