Wife in the North

Wife in the North by Judith O’Reilly

What was this book about?

Judith has always identified herself as a Londerner. When her husband tells her of his dream to live in the country in the North she decides to be self sacrificing and do it for him. She moves him, herself and her 2.5 children to the country. She is pregnant and trying to juggle being a working mother. Her parents are aging and she also has to figure out a way to help them.

It is a difficult and uphill climb – follow her and her family as they do the best they can to get through life.

It is quite the uphill battle in figuring out

What did you think about the book?

For me this was a hard book to get into. It starts by being all about how she sacrificed for her husband. I totally give her credit for that kind of willingness to do what you need to do for your family but I couldn’t identify with the characters (and considering I can do that with werewolves and witches etc. it made it difficult to keep reading).

Maybe it was hard for me to connect because she identifies no one by name. Everyone is her 4-yr old, 2-yr old, husband, daughter named after best friend, or some sort of made up name that she uses to identify people. I understand that this book seems to be semi-autobiographical and that could be why she has done this (to hide the names of the guilty – or in this case innocent). But it just made it difficult for me to appreciate them as people.

Part of me was just itching to like the book, as the author has some really great ideas in terms of dealing with the family dynamics of moving from one sort of lifestyle to another. Moving isn’t easy for anyone and adjusting can be difficult. She also deals with the challenges of being both a mother and a career woman. That people look at her differently when she moved because they see her as more of a mother then someone with ideas and thoughts. Add into the drama of her household, aging parents and having to deal with their mortality.

So overall while there were some great thoughts included in the story – it just wasn’t told in a way that kept me entertained.

Judith was a guest blogger on my website a little while back. And I have to say I found her post there much more my speed then her book.

What genre would you consider this?
Family Dynamics

Overall:

Question for you!:
Did you find the characters as someone you were unable to connect with? Have you ever sacrificed something big for someone you love? How did that work out? Where you able to fully embrace it?