Currently reading
I picked up this paperback because I needed to use up a gift card and it was among the more promising novels on the New in Paperback table. And I read almost the entire thing in one day. I started on a plane and continued reading on a ferry, unwilling to interrupt the story with crossword puzzles or airline magazines until I realized that I'd have nothing left for the return trip if I didn't stop.
Misfit child narrators who don't fit in are a dime a dozen, but Brunt makes hers a deeply sympathetic girl who does eventually come to learn that everyone feels like a misfit, even parents. It is, too, a nuanced and forgiving portrait of family politics, showing how love can get mixed up with anger and resentment, and how the best and brightest parts of ourselves are often the imprints left by people we love.
