Review of Comfort in the Wings
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[Following is a volunteer review of "Comfort in the Wings" by Jennifer Collins.]
“Some unnamed amount of time and this gaping wound in my heart will heal, with sutures composed of minutes and hours.”
Parents do not expect to outlive their children. When they do, they suffer unimaginable grief and endless sadness. Jennifer Collins tells a poignant story of a parent’s loss in Comfort in the Wings. If agony had a proper name, I would call it Larissa, the protagonist in the novel. Her heartbreak is palpable after her daughter dies.
As the story opens, we see Larissa in deep mourning over Emma. Moreover, it is a death shrouded in mystery. Losing her adult daughter would have been awful enough, but did Larissa have to be the one to find Emma’s lifeless body? Why does she have to wait for so many months for the autopsy report? Panic attacks and lack of sleep shove Larissa deeper into her emotional morass. The thoughts of leaving the house and talking to people are more than Larissa can bear.
Larissa has much more misery to add to the strain. Her son, Eric, stormed out in a rage shortly before Emma died. She has been unable to tell him about his sister’s untimely demise. As hours and days stretch out in self-imposed solitude, Larissa adds guilt to her deepening depression. Why does she feel guilty? Does she bear culpability in Emma’s death? What happens to cause Larissa to leave her cocoon of grief to go on a work-related road trip? Will Larissa find Eric? What secrets threaten to destroy their relationship forever?
I completely enjoyed reading this beautiful story. Collins’ narrative is fluid and easy to follow. By varying the length of sentences, Collins creates a thoughtful rhythm and an intimate mood. For example, Larissa’s thoughts ferry the reader into the middle of her stream of consciousness: “As the soft rumble of the phone brings me back to the present, I glance at the clock and wonder if it has been minutes or hours since I sat down in this chair. Was it yesterday? Does it even matter?” The structure demonstrates the author’s meticulous control of her plot and character development.
I can find no faults with this book. It goes beyond what I expect when choosing books to read. The icing on this literary cake comes at the end of the book. Jennifer Collin's includes more than a dozen discussion questions. This is a pristine piece of literature that is exceptionally well-written and exceptionally well-edited. For all these reasons, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
I recommend this book to readers over the age of 18 who enjoy reading emotionally charged stories. This book deals intimately with a mother’s grief over the death of her daughter. It includes adult situations and language that may not be appropriate for young readers.
******
Comfort in the Wings
View: on Bookshelves |
“Some unnamed amount of time and this gaping wound in my heart will heal, with sutures composed of minutes and hours.”
Parents do not expect to outlive their children. When they do, they suffer unimaginable grief and endless sadness. Jennifer Collins tells a poignant story of a parent’s loss in Comfort in the Wings. If agony had a proper name, I would call it Larissa, the protagonist in the novel. Her heartbreak is palpable after her daughter dies.
As the story opens, we see Larissa in deep mourning over Emma. Moreover, it is a death shrouded in mystery. Losing her adult daughter would have been awful enough, but did Larissa have to be the one to find Emma’s lifeless body? Why does she have to wait for so many months for the autopsy report? Panic attacks and lack of sleep shove Larissa deeper into her emotional morass. The thoughts of leaving the house and talking to people are more than Larissa can bear.
Larissa has much more misery to add to the strain. Her son, Eric, stormed out in a rage shortly before Emma died. She has been unable to tell him about his sister’s untimely demise. As hours and days stretch out in self-imposed solitude, Larissa adds guilt to her deepening depression. Why does she feel guilty? Does she bear culpability in Emma’s death? What happens to cause Larissa to leave her cocoon of grief to go on a work-related road trip? Will Larissa find Eric? What secrets threaten to destroy their relationship forever?
I completely enjoyed reading this beautiful story. Collins’ narrative is fluid and easy to follow. By varying the length of sentences, Collins creates a thoughtful rhythm and an intimate mood. For example, Larissa’s thoughts ferry the reader into the middle of her stream of consciousness: “As the soft rumble of the phone brings me back to the present, I glance at the clock and wonder if it has been minutes or hours since I sat down in this chair. Was it yesterday? Does it even matter?” The structure demonstrates the author’s meticulous control of her plot and character development.
I can find no faults with this book. It goes beyond what I expect when choosing books to read. The icing on this literary cake comes at the end of the book. Jennifer Collin's includes more than a dozen discussion questions. This is a pristine piece of literature that is exceptionally well-written and exceptionally well-edited. For all these reasons, I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.
I recommend this book to readers over the age of 18 who enjoy reading emotionally charged stories. This book deals intimately with a mother’s grief over the death of her daughter. It includes adult situations and language that may not be appropriate for young readers.
******
Comfort in the Wings
View: on Bookshelves |
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