Janet lives an ordinary life with an ordinary family, growing up against a backdrop of the
Vietnam War and the growth of the drug culture. Her parents struggle for a balance between compassion and control and Janet yearns for a sister, a Thelma for her Louise. Then Sophie enters her life. Delois has Janet describe Sophie as follows: "Her hair was a nest of blond curls that made me think of Goldilocks, and there was a smug look about her mouth that suggested she might have already helped herself to someone's porridge and found it just right." DeLois writes with a magic wand. "One day in late winter, Sophie suggested we dig our way to another country. Not China, she said--they would look for us there. We would dig a hole halfway to China, and then we would veer off toward Amsterdam." DeLois enters the world of two children and shows the reader both how Sophie viewed her dysfunctional family and how Janet viewed her own parents as well as her relationship with the Sophie. The author is as adept at showing the child's view as she is the adolescent view. The imagery she creates is so realistic you'll think you're back in your high school lunchroom, hoping against hope a certain boy will sit with you. A coming of age story, a book about heartbreak and the ways women and men struggle with their wounds, and a tale of everyday lives, Bufflehead Sisters is all that. You may see yourself in the pages. There's something special about Sophie. Every one who meets her thinks so. This reader agrees.
No comments:
Post a Comment