Customer Reviews

The Reconstruction

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I really liked the primitiveness of Margaret. You know this woman howls at the moon! In order to purge the bile of divorce and washing a baaadddddd relationship out of her hair, she took on the characteristics of LUCY, and it seemed to work; if only more of us were as brave and bazen, we'd spend less time on the psychiatrist's couch!!!!!!! I enjoyed this book, a wonderful first effort for a local author. It was my book club's last selection, and was thoroughly enjoyed. We look forward to your next book, Claudia!

The story of "The Reconstruction," seems rather straightforward at first glance: Ex-wife of doctor seeks to pull herself together after husband leaves her, and uses a reconstruction of a prehistoric human being's skelleton as a an emotional exercise. This, however, does not do the book justice.

The real focus of this book is on damaged psyches - the main character, Margaret comes from a situation where her husband, a wealthy and respected man, has single-handedly destroyed her sense of self-worth. Now, in financial ruin, she finds that her teeth are showing the decay she feels inside: they're rotting, though no fault of her own, just lousy genetics. From there we walk with Margaret, through the metaphor of the reconstruction of a prehistoric woman who, from footprints left in fossils, walked beside a man, then hesitated for a moment before continuing. This moment sparks something in her, and slowly, as Margaret adds to the fossilized bones, building muscle and tissue and reconstructing the woman, she reconstructs her own life, and her own self.

It is hard to believe that this is Casper's first work; I adored it. This is a fine Canadian talent, and I do suggest you pick it up, especially if you're feeling a little defeated, and would like a realistic tale of "reconstruction."

'Nathan

The Reconstruction was my book club's last selection. Our consensus was that while the book had some merit, we found the writing simplistic and the character development a little shallow. The protagonist, Margaret, didn't deal with her problems the way that we thought a modern woman should -- she was weak and far too willing to allow herself to wallow in a mess of her own making. An average read, at best.