Book Title: The Ten Year Nap
Author(s): Meg Wolitzer
Category: Fiction
Number of pages: 351
What it's about: This story follows the lives of several women as they navigate the motherhood years when they’ve put their own ambitions on hold to see their children through to adulthood.
What I liked best: Meg Wolitzer’s treatment of this subject matter is engaging and insightful enough to have been born from personal experience.
“You stayed around your children as long as you could, inhaling the ambient gold shavings of their childhood…” page 328
I loved that phrase so much that I had to put down the book and hunt around for a pen and piece of paper. Fortunately it occurred to me to start writing down phrases near the end of the book, because had I thought to do this earlier on, I’d have too many gems to choose from to write this review.
As a stay at home mom, I can relate to Meg Wolitzer’s portrayal of the version of contemporary motherhood that results when mothers put their careers on hold after having their children. Priorities change, focus shifts, and our previous childless selves get lost in the shuffle. Unfortunately along with it often goes our sense of individuality and purpose, put second to the needs of our families. This angst along with the reflective tendencies of approaching middle age are the main voice of this book.
This novel is more character driven than plot - not much really happens. If you’re a stay at home mother, however, you will be able to relate enough to enjoy the read even in the absence of a highly structured plot, and even if you’re not, Meg Wolitzer’s highly evolved writing skill makes the time invested in the book well spent.
My rating: 4
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Canada
