Customer Reviews

Halfborn Woman

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This coming-of-age story begins at the end, with 15-year-old Arlen restrained to an emergency-room bed. What follows is Arlen's account of the events which led her here. Struck blind in one eye by a childhood accident, Arlen manipulates her skewed perspective unapologetically, describing a seemingly idyllic childhood shattered by her parent's divorce. Abused and neglected by her mother, baffled by inattention from her father, Arlen responds with desperation and attention-seeking behavior which grows increasingly more self-destructive.

Through Arlen's narration, WoodBrown draws poignant memories against the tragic, tranquil imagery against the harsh, recreating for the reader the ebb and flow of emotion in which Arlen is drowning. Caught in these rough waters between childhood and womanhood, Arlen flounders about for a hero, and in the hysterical manner of the drowning, both demands and resists rescue. The reader will pursue this climatically-paced story to the very last word, wondering if Arlen will sink or swim. A must-read for teenage girls and their mothers.

The primary reason which Halfborn Woman is such a fine book is the voice of its narrator, Arlen. Her harrowing life is recounted in the most straightforward way possible, without bitterness or any attempt to declare victimhood, any plea for the reader's sympathy. The convincing way in which she tells the story, however, earns such sympathy, and the ability of the prose to capture a young woman's thinking while simultaneously describing the beauty of Floridian swamps and the squalor of dog races is truly amazing. This is an honest book, in subject and in style. Read it.

When first picked up, the reader is faced with the fear of reading another melodramatic 'coming-of-age' novel, but this book is far from it. It is an engrossing view from a clouded vision we all have shared. Halfborn Woman is beautifully written, and honest. The characters are so wonderfully developed, and are easy to identify with. It is a book you should read, and share.