“Work hard. Do good. Be incredible!” is the advice Teresa Rae Wood shares with the listeners of her local radio show, Modern Pioneers , and the advice she strives to live by every day. She has fled a bad marriage and rebuilta life with her children, Claire and Joshua, and their caring stepfather, Bruce. Their love for each other binds them as a family through the daily struggles of making ends meet. But when they received unexpected news that Teresa, only 38, is dying of cancer, their lives all begin to unravel and drift apart. Strayed’s intimate portraits of these fully human characters in a time of crisis show the varying truths of grief, forgiveness, and the beautiful terrors of learning how to keep living.
These characters are the most authentic I’ve read in a long time. Teresa and Joshua were the ones I connected with the most. Teresa is a mother who falls ill, and I’ve never read from a character who receives a terminal diagnosis. Joshua, her teenage son, deeply affected me because I saw how his mother’s diagnosis, and ultimately her death, impacted his life, and what loss can do to a person. I didn’t really connect with the character of Claire, which is a shock as she’s the character I’m closest in age with. I didn’t like her, but when you go through such a traumatic event, you’re often not a likable person. Ultimately, I just wasn’t drawn to her chapters. Bruce is a character who grew on me throughout the novel. I think he’s a good person, but loss can change us as individuals and transform us. Great character work!
The atmosphere is what blew me away, I wasn’t expecting it to be so powerful. This book is set in a small town in Minnesota, and the author masterfully brought that town to life, along with the Mississippi River, making those settings almost characters in their own right. I love reading about the changing of seasons, and I think the author did a fantastic job portraying this.
While the first chapter initially enamored me with Cheryl Strayed’s choice of language, it eventually felt as though she was using an excess of words, as if she had a certain word count to reach for the book to be published. The story began to drag on and became quite tedious, turning what was once an enjoyable reading experience into something of a chore, especially with chapters that spanned over 20 pages. The overall story was hard to follow, as the way time jumps were all over the place, taking me out of the story as I had to figure out if we were in the past or present.
The author’s portrayal of themes such as loss and grief was commendably done. These are universal experiences that all humans must endure at some point in their lives. While these experiences can be painful, they also hold the transformative power to shape us, often for the better. Not only do they bring us closer together, but they also allow us to grow as individuals. The authenticity and humanity within the story were palpable, truly underscoring the author’s skill in encapsulating such complex emotions and experiences.
These characters are the most authentic I’ve read in a long time. Great character work! The atmosphere is what blew me away, I wasn’t expecting it to be so powerful. I love reading about the changing of seasons, and I think the author did a fantastic job portraying this. While the first chapter initially enamored me with Cheryl Strayed’s choice of language, it eventually felt as though she was using an excess of words, as if she had a certain word count to reach for the book to be published. The overall story was hard to follow, as the way time jumps were all over the place, taking me out of the story as I had to figure out if we were in the past or present. The author’s portrayal of themes such as loss and grief was commendably done. The authenticity and humanity within the story were palpable, truly underscoring the author’s skill in encapsulating such complex emotions and experiences. This was a good and I would still recommend it even if it did not live up to my five star expectation.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Izzy Reads 