Customer Reviews

Child of My Heart

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

You can read this book in one concentrated sitting, and the book feels like an inspired burst of breath. There are many passages of writing that are superb - some of the best sentence-writing McDermott has ever done... and that's saying something. Mcdermott's forte has always been rendering the specificities of life with a sober, but poetic slant. There is nothing really intriguing about the events themselves in McDermott's novels, but filtered through McDermott's eyes, everything becomes somehow meaningful... even sacrosanct.

This book can be called a bildungsroman, but unlike most rite-of-passage books which tend to take a sweeping view of a person's life, this novel takes a slice from a girl's life (a single summer, a few weeks) and examines how such a short moment transformed everything in the world for her.

The story is simplicity itself. Theresa is a fifteen year-old, a precocious babysitter, who looks after her young cousin, Daisy. On the surface level, not much goes on in the novel. There are adults who make up the moral landscape of the novel, and it's a tribute to McDermott's strength as a writer that much of this moral landscape is filled in through the absence of these adult characters... this vacuity that exists in the novel makes this suburban world of Theresa seem very lonely.

The climax of the novel (which I won't give away) is quite foreseeable, but this doesn't distract us from being engaged. The ending is as natural and inevitable as life itself, and although unspoken, it is quite clear that Theresa will never be the girl of fifteen again hence.

As I've mentioned, some of the writing is magnificent. The last fifty pages of the book achieve a kind of incandescence; I got one of those rare buzzes you only get from a special kind of writing. The prose alone can transport you. But at the same time, some nagging aspects of the novel got in the way of the story. It is clear that Theresa is fond of Daisy, but their relationship seemed too cloying at times. Undoubtedly, this is realistic; children can be attached to someone unequivocally. But it became repetitive... the constant 'poor daisy's' uttered, noxzema cream slathered on feet...

This is a coming-of-age tale as only McDermott can write it. Most of the denouement of the novel, Theresa's coming to terms with life and its gravity, the passing of youth, becomes apparent through unspoken terms. Sure, this book doesn't quite fully plumb the depths of the characters as her excellent novels from the past. Nevertheless, McDermott's insight is enlightening, and the book contains some of her most effortlessly passionate writing to date.

To read Alice McDermott is to enter a wonderland made up of familiar terrain but you still need a road map. With her clean, economical prose she cuts right through the arrogance of the wealthy and the submissiveness of the poor. Fifteen year old Theresa is unlike anyone I have ever encountered in fiction but have known in real life. Thoughtful, kind, and confident, she marches through Long Island, ministering to the neglected children of the rich. When her eight year old cousin Daisy comes to spend a few weeks with Theresa's family, Theresa recognizes how much in need of repair Daisy is. Physically but also emotionally, for Daisy is one of many children of a poor family and has been not abused so much as over looked. Theresa's own family seems to emotionally neglect her too, so caring for Daisy is, in a way, also caring for Theresa. They have a strong bond and Theresa creates a lovely summer for her. The thoughtless and careless ways of the rich are balanced by the thoughtless, careless, ways of the poor. Reading Child of My heart is like reading a primer in how to behave. Do yourself a favor and read this wonderful book. Thanks goodness for Alice McDermott!

I did enjoy this book; however, every parent portrayed was neglectful. Flora's mother just taking off as she did and leaving her toddler behind...Flora's father's self centeredness and lack of interest in taking care of her (as well as his extreme lack of morals), the Moran kids appalling lack of care and supervision - just leaving a baby to roam the streets!, and even Theresa's parents - benign and well-intentioned, but too busy with work and having their daughter rub elbows with "rich folks" to spend any real quality time with Theresa and Daisy. Then they would have noticed that Daisy was not well. Daisy's parents, in fact, should have noticed this sooner too, as her paleness and bruises were there when she got to Theresa's.
Theresa wasn't portrayed as a normal 15-year-old. Did she have any friends her own age, did she ever rebel at spending all her time being a surrogate mother to every kid and animal in the neighborhood? Did she resent the never ending cooking, cleaning, babysitting, having the responsibility of so many kids and animals? Did she have any interest in the opposite sex other than a womanizing and narcissistic elderly man? Losing her virginity was not as monumental of an experience to her as it is to most people. She just accepted it as weirdly and calmly as she accepts everything else. There is no passion or spark in her personality - it was like her thoughts and words were coming from beneith a languid warm sea.
I also thought the neighbors coming to get her at night to console their child after the cat got hit by a car was a bit over the top. Couldn't the child's parents comfort the girl themselves? That's what being a parent is all about.
In short, I liked the writing and the author very much, I just didn't like most of the charactors in this story.

...Wow. One might be tempted at first to say that this doesn't live up to "Charming Billy." The story of "Child of My Heart" isn't much of a story at all, when compared to Ms. McDermott's previous novel. Where "Charming Billy" spanned decades and told the stories of the lives of several people and how they were all affected by Billy, "Child of My Heart" confines itself to a few days in the life of the beautiful Theresa and her summer charges. Simple, yes, but utterly heartbreaking. I found myself stopping to re-read sentences that merely told of a gesture or a breath. There are chapters in Ms. McDermott's sentences -- things untold that mean the world and explain even more. The color of a girl's shoes, the way sun shines off a man's hair, it's the details in this novel that make it a wonder. It's the details that make the world of "Child of My Heart" so believable that not one plot point seems forced or even expected -- you are lulled by the sound of the wind on these summer days, the movements of the shadows on a porch, and are satisfied enough simply to follow Theresa, Daisy, and company to the beach or to an attic.

This book will stay with you long after you are finished. You won't expect it to, and you may even be skeptical when reading of lollipops and rabbits, but just go on and read it and do yourself a wonderful favor.

Alice McDermott is one of my favorite writers and I loved this book. Theresa is a 15 year old wonderchild, who is not only beautiful, but blessed in her ability to take care of other peoples' children. She cares for her cousin, Daisy, Flora, the daughter of a local artist, and a host of Moran children, and Swansons. What drives this book is that beautiful prose McDermott uses throughout--clean and lovely, never wasteful. You know there will be trouble ahead by the easy bruising on Daisy, and I found it a little unsettling that Theresa does not mention it to any adults, and that her own parents do not notice either. But in this world, parents do not seem to notice their children, why would they notice a bruised foot? Only a physician parent notices, but he is too busy giving Theresa the eye, and asking her for babysitting time.
Last Night is still my sentimental favorite Alice McDermott book, but this is a close second. A lovely book, with characters you won't forget. It's a slim volume that should not be read too quickly, savor it instead.

*SPOILERS* I heard Alice McDermott on the radio, promoting her book on NPR and I was instantly captivated by her elegant comments. She read the second paragraph of the book and the next thing I know I was rushing to the bookshop to buy it. It was very easy to get attached to the book right from the first page. The lightness of the narration is enchanting and was addictive for some time, but soon it became boring when I realized that the story was not going anywhere. After I lost my enthusiasm, I left the book aside for a few months and sort of just finished recently just to get rid of it. The sexual involvement of Theresa with a 70-year old drunk and womanizer artist was profoundly disturbing to me and kind of out of context. It made me regret reaching the end of the book. I really would like to ask the author the reason behind this passage. Also, Theresa's irresponsibility of knowing that Daisy was sick and not taking any action did not gain my sympathy either. Although I was not fond of the book itself, McDermott has a charismatic way of writing and I certainly plan to read her other books.

I really expected to like this book. I normally enjoy books that get inside the head of a female protagonist. But this one left me cold. It's the story of Theresa, a beautiful 15 year old living in Long Island who looks after the neighborhood children and animals over the summer. She is also charged with the care of her eight year old cousin, Daisy.

The pace is VERY slow and the book takes a long time to get going. To me, Theresa (the narrator) never felt real. She seemed too mature to be only 15. Her smug confidence in her beauty and its power irritated me, as did her passive observations of so much around her. Nor did her actions seem particularly believable.

Books that I think captured this age better were "The way I found her" by Rose Tremain and "Joy School" by Elizabeth Berg.

I tout Alice McDermott everywhere I go. No other book but The Hours has put me in a stunned, stumbling all-day trance the way At Weddings and Wakes did, or Charming Billy, and I am neither Irish, from NY, or Catholic. But I forced myself through this one. I expect the happier reviews are written right after completing it, because the final two pages are back to McDermott's usual translucent, heartbreaking-without-sentiment prose. Until then, though, it's repetitive narrative along the lines of And then I, And then we, And then I, ad nauseum. As to specific problems, Theresa seems not just precocious, but egotistical. My children are 22, 19 and 15, very confident, but none of them have had the confidence/egotism of Theresa at fifteen. I can believe her testing her sexuality with an older man before I believe she has that kind of confidence. Moreover, I don't believe what I counted as some days of ten-hour babysitting goes as smoothly, no matter what fantasies, stories and activities Theresa cooks up, as McDermott portrays. Theresa never once loses her patience or gets weary. Nope. Doesn't compute, and frankly, makes Theresa less likeable.
Don't let this distract you from Alice McDermott. Just don't read it as your introduction to her. Read At Weddings and Wakes and Charming Billy.

A simple story told from a 15-year-olds point of view. The teenager in question is Theresa, a beautiful girl beloved by animals and children alike. Amazingly perspicacious for a teen, Theresa takes us through a summer on Long Island where she cares for her younger cousin, Daisy, the daughter of a semi-famous painter, Flora, and a host of other neighborhood kids and animals.

Overall, Child of My Heart seemed more a series of observations and daily happenings than a plotted story. Yet it was oddly compelling, perhaps because McDermott is such a gifted writer. But I did have some problems with Theresas character: even though she seemed so beyond her years in many respects, she was still very childlike  she had no friends her age (only younger) and expressed no interest in boys (save for her creepy relationship with the geriatric painter). And that relationship was rather inexplicable  she never expresses any sexual longing or attraction to this man, but still she gets naked with the old geezer (yuck!), despite being keenly aware of her beauty and that she could probably have any man she wanted. I guess I just felt like something was missing here, but Im not sure what.

I have read and loved every one of McDermott's other novels, but this one is disappointing. While I agree that her prose is exquisite, the story fails to illuminate in a convincing manner why the main characters, especially the 15 year old Theresa, do what they do. One fully never is able to grasp why Theresa becomes sexually attracted to the 70 year old artist, who is a poor excuse for a father, a drunk, and an out-and-out philanderer. Nor does McDermott provide enough context clues about Theresa's character for a reader to really understand why Theresa would simply fail to inform an adult about her cousin's Daisy's medical problems (bruises appear on her feet and other parts of her body for no apparent reason). How many beautiful 15 year old girls would want to have sex with an ugly, drunk 70 year old man and ignore the serious medical condition of someone she truly loves? MeDermott provides some insight but not enough in this short novel to make this reader believe in the characters or the story.