Pre-approved to read and review the new Roddy Doyle novel, "The Women Behind the Door," I ordered a previous book of his, "The Woman Who Walked Into Doors," which also features Paula Spencer. As an alcoholic and abused wife, she constantly made excuses for her husband Charlo, masking the abuse with excuses like "I walked into the door." She finally breaks free from this hell when she, as the New York Times said, "...stops being a battered wife when she becomes a protective mother."
"The Women Behind the Door" picks up thirty years later. Paula is now sixty-six and seems fairly happy with her life. Her greatest joy, that her children are doing well, is suddenly shattered when her oldest daughter, Nicola-- the perfect one, the one who was everything Paula was not-- shows up at her doorstep, intent on abandoning her husband and family.
The Covid crisis has been going on for a while, and the women use this as a cover story for Nicola to stay separated from her family. Paula begins to see what she never wanted to see before-- that her daughter has been far from perfect and bears emotional scars from her childhood. The credit Paula has given herself for tossing Charlo out-- she has allowed it to cloud a deep-seeded guilt for failing her children.
"The Charlo damage, the real Charlo pain-- it isn't physical. It never was, once the bones were mended and the bruises faded back behind her skin. The real damage-- she can't face her children, not even in her imagination. They're like a jury and she's always guilty-- she knows she's guilty. Nothing will ever make her know or feel any different. He battered the mother out of her."
In this mother-daughter drama, ghosts from the past refuse to stay restrained in the shadows and these two are compelled to confront what has lain deep within. Doyle examines how they attempt to see the past without illusion, striving to save their bond. It is a story marked by raw, brutal moments, yet interspersed with clever, witty interludes. Highly recommended.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
"The Women Behind the Door" picks up thirty years later. Paula is now sixty-six and seems fairly happy with her life. Her greatest joy, that her children are doing well, is suddenly shattered when her oldest daughter, Nicola-- the perfect one, the one who was everything Paula was not-- shows up at her doorstep, intent on abandoning her husband and family.
The Covid crisis has been going on for a while, and the women use this as a cover story for Nicola to stay separated from her family. Paula begins to see what she never wanted to see before-- that her daughter has been far from perfect and bears emotional scars from her childhood. The credit Paula has given herself for tossing Charlo out-- she has allowed it to cloud a deep-seeded guilt for failing her children.
"The Charlo damage, the real Charlo pain-- it isn't physical. It never was, once the bones were mended and the bruises faded back behind her skin. The real damage-- she can't face her children, not even in her imagination. They're like a jury and she's always guilty-- she knows she's guilty. Nothing will ever make her know or feel any different. He battered the mother out of her."
In this mother-daughter drama, ghosts from the past refuse to stay restrained in the shadows and these two are compelled to confront what has lain deep within. Doyle examines how they attempt to see the past without illusion, striving to save their bond. It is a story marked by raw, brutal moments, yet interspersed with clever, witty interludes. Highly recommended.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
