From Publishers Weekly
Described as "semi-autobiographical," this debut novel by the daughter of actress Patricia Neal and writer Roald Dahl seems more factual than fictional, recapitulating as it does the three tragedies that struck the Dahl family in stunning succession. More importantly, though, it reveals the author as a capable writer with a strong, distinctive voice. In short, intense, alternating chapters that are a cri de coeur, narrator/protagonist Molly tells of her efforts to please her dominating, manipulative husband, and, in flashbacks, recalls her earlier efforts to win love from her equally cold, controlling father. The tragic events she recallsthe accident that left her brother brain-damaged, the sudden death of her adored sister, her mother's strokeare played out against Molly's attempts to become important in her parents' eyes and, later, to deflect her husband's cruelty. Her accusations against Jack, a marital monster extraordinaire, unfortunately become a diatribe, a crescendo of outrage and pain. Molly's agonizing journey to self-confidence is more credible than her continuing, obsessive need for her father's approval; at the end of the novel, she still calls him "that giant of a man, my love, my life." Surprisingly, in view of the bitterness Dahl expresses, the book's dedication reads: "To my father."
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
From Library Journal
Molly's husband has left her after over seven years. In this scream-of-consciousness first novel, Molly analyzes, reminisces, and agonizes--ostensibly in a letter to him--about her childhood and failed marriage. The daughter of an English artist and an American actress (in fact , Dahl is the daughter of writer Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal), Molly's childhood is shocked by repeated traumas, much the same as Dahl's own: an infant brother is hit by a bus, a sister dies from measles, and her mother suffers a stroke. Molly longs for her father's love but is always denied it. She ends up letting herself be victimized by men. Through the course of her marital breakdown, Molly discovers her own two feet, but it is difficult to understand how or why. Although there is certainly drama in the childhood scenes, the lack of subtlety in point of view and writing makes this unsuccessful. See LJ 's "First Novelists," p. 41.
- Janet Boyarin Blundell, M.L.S., Brookdale Community Coll., Lincroft, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
- Janet Boyarin Blundell, M.L.S., Brookdale Community Coll., Lincroft, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
