Songs Without Words (Vintage Contemporaries)

I really loved this book. I thought it was dead on as far as typical American families go. The women in the book are older than me, except for the daughter, but I still felt like I could relate. I related to Lauren a lot because I dealt with depression when I was a teenager and my feelings were similar to the ones she experienced. I liked that Ann Packer had put those weird feelings into words. I also liked Sarabeth a lot, she was flawed and perhaps a little selfish but it was clear that she too had suffered from depression, and Liz as well. I do wish that there had been more focus on Joe, who all but disappeared from the story towards the end, and I think Ann Packer sensed that and wrote that last bit from Joe's point of view, before moving on to the very ending. I thought the ending was good, if not maybe a little abrupt, and in a way I didn't feel like I had enough closure, but in life sometimes you don't get closure for certain things and maybe Ann Packer doesn't want to coddle her readers.

I liked this book more the The Dive From Clausen's Pier. I liked that one but I hated the ending. I'm planning to read Ann Packer's book of short stories soon.

This book sketches these dynamics while avoiding easy sentimentality -- the characters face some stark realities with plausible, emotionally genuine results. It`s explores the way childhood shapes the emotional dynamics of adulthood, while allowing its central characters to recognize and transcend the influences of the past. This novel is deeply engaging.

If you realy like reading you wouldn`t like to miss these:
The Golden Slipper: And Other Problems for Violet Strange
The Millionaire Baby
The Mystery of The Hasty Arrow
Initials Only
The Chief Legatee

This isn't chick-lit. it just happens to have female main characters. Delicate inner terrain is eloquently and caringly explored. This was something I voraciously read and I agree that the ending was not risky enough. I Know This Much Is True - which I reviewed and was 800 pages of details of action - now *that* was depressing.

Spoiler if you want to know why people found this objectionable:

A character attempts suicide and another character's mother did commit suicide.

I haven't read "Dive from Claussen's Pier," but it was so widely acclaimed by friends and reviewers that I thought this would be a winner.
I was very disappointed. I had to finish the book because I kept thinking it was going to redeem itself but I was wrong. Boring!

As I write this review, I enjoy the sound the keys make as I press them, and I'm glad I cut my fingernails, as that helps my accuracy. The cute brass lamp that I got at Pier One ten years ago - what a buy! - has a shade with cut-outs for dangling balls and they rattle as the desk vibrates as I type. The desk came from England, where I was stationed with the Air Force from 2004 - 2006. Thinking about that two-year period reminds me of a dream I had two weeks ago. I didn't know I was dreaming, but if I had...

If you like this kind of [dried up] stream of consciousness writing, then you'll devour Ann Packer's book, Song Without Words. The characters were as lifeless as hair that hasn't been washed in three weeks and hangs in tangles around a wan face. Without exception, the characters were insubstantial and inconsequential, and I'm glad I don't have anyone like them in my life.

I returned this book to the library after slogging through to the point at which the daughter tries to kill herself. In fact, I considered leaving a note in the front, advising browsers to bypass it.

Reader beware.