About the Book:
Marnie is sixty-three and downwardly mobile. Her middle-class marriage is long gone, her only child more or less estranged. She's living in a granny flat behind a stranger's house.
Still, things could be worse. She likes her new boss, Trinh, and her flat has a leadlight window depicting a galleon in full sail. Also, her daughter Lenny has just brought Marnie's adored grandchildren to stay.
She's also brought her repellent boyfriend and raging drug habit, so nothing new there. But this time it's different. This time Marnie can see with absolute clarity the danger the children are in.
And this time—she's going to do something about it.
This is the revelatory story of an ordinary woman who will let nothing, not even the law, stand in the way of her grandchildren's safety. Simply, elegantly told and utterly compelling, Edenhope is an adventure for those who believe adventure can come from anywhere. And it is a love story for those who understand that love can be found everywhere.
Published by Text Publishing
Released 4 June 2024
My Thoughts:
Rating: 5 stars
Why I chose it: I loved the sound of the description and was drawn to the cover.
Themes: Family, friendships, addiction, child neglect, social welfare, homelessness in women over 50, grandparents parenting their children's children.
For fans of: quietly unfolding novels with contemporarily impacting themes of Australian society woven through the narrative.
The good: There is so much that was good about this novel. I loved Marnie's fierce determination to protect her grandchildren from their own mother, her daughter. She faced down the unknown and stood her ground so many times when I could picture myself wavering if placed in the same situation. I loved the demonstration, many times over, of the kindness of strangers towards Marnie and the little ones. The way in which the author depicted navigating the channels of Centrelink and Child Safety was realistically frustrating, but also balanced, as there were people within the system trying to assist, despite the system not being set up to allow for speed and certain services. Kudos as well to the family lawyer giving their time pro bono and going more than the extra mile to help people like Marnie out.
The not so good: Lenny was a hard character to muster any empathy towards. She was an addict, yes, but she was also just a mean, selfish, entitled loser. I could empathise with Marnie, from a mother point of view, as to why she kept trying and caring, but from an outsider point of view, I just wanted Marnie to cut her loose. The author dug into this dilemma so well - at what point do we step back from being a parent and just focus on parenting the grandchildren? When is it okay to give up on your own child and accept they are a lost cause? Such a profound dilemma, with no real answers, of course.
In brief: A thought provoking and deeply emotional story about a woman who has been driven to the point of destitution by her daughter's drug habit and her quest to save her grandchildren from certain harm. I was gripped by this story from the outset and loved all of it, far more than I had been expecting to. It would make for a terrific book club pick. Highly recommended.
Thanks to Text Publishing for the review copy.
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