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13 obres 148 Membres 5 Ressenyes

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Inclou el nom: Fedler Joanne

Crèdit de la imatge: Courtesy of Allen and Unwin

Obres de Joanne Fedler

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Dieses Buch erzählt von acht Freundinnen, die sich über ihre Kinder kennengelernt haben, und nun einen gemeinsamen Abend verbringen. Was mich schon gleich einmal an diesem Buch stört, ist, dass es für Mütter scheinbar nur zwei Rollen geben kann. Entweder man opfert sich für die Kinder auf, oder man ist eine Egozentrikerin wie Liz. Ich konnte in dem Buch schon durchaus vieles erkennen, was ich auch als Mutter kenne oder von Freundinnen höre. Dennoch hat mich das Buch nicht wirklich gefesselt. Die Personen waren mir nicht sehr sympathisch und größtenteils auch nicht ganz nachvollziehbar. Die Art und Weise, wie sie ihr Leben gestalten, mit ihren Kindern umgehen, mit ihren Männern umgehen und miteinander umgehen, hat mich nicht angesprochen. So habe ich mich durch dieses Buch auch mehr oder weniger durchgequält und irgendwann nur noch quer gelesen. Ich kann tatsächlich nicht nachvollziehen, wieso das ein Bestseller war. Wahrscheinlich ist es eine Marktlücke, ehrliche Bücher über Mutterschaft zu haben, also Bücher, die Mutterschaft nicht glorifizieren. Aber dieses Buch sieht die Mutterschaft dann wieder zu negativ. Klar, es ist oft anstrengend Kinder zu haben. Wenn man einen Mann hat, der sich nicht einbringt, ist es sicherlich schwierig.
Aber was ist denn hier mit der vielgepriesenen Frauensolidarität? Was man dem Buch sehr gut gefallen hat, ist das Essen. Das kann ich gut nachvollziehen, das Essen so zum Thema zu erheben. Nur hat mich auch das nicht durch das Buch getragen.
… (més)
 
Marcat
Wassilissa | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Apr 23, 2016 |
It’s been six years since the women introduced in Secret Mothers’ Business have managed to get away for a weekend. Not everyone from the original group has been able to make it but Jo, Helen, Ereka and CJ are joined by friends, Maeve, Summer and Virginia in the large rented country house. Over the course of the weekend, the seven women share wine, food, laughter, tears, secrets and truths, as they candidly discuss men, marriage, children, sex, motherhood and growing older and rediscover the value of friendship.

It’s Jo who is our hostess on this weekend away though it was her best friend, Helen, who took care of the details. Jo is in her forties, a wife and mother to a 13 year old daughter and 11 year old and has been struggling with her changing role as a parent as her children begin to make a bid for their own independence. A bit of a control freak, evidenced by her strict eating regime, and suffering insomnia from the self induced stress, she is looking forward to a relaxing weekend but her anxieties are never far from her mind.
Jo introduces us to the other woman joining her on the retreat, six of them are escaping children and/or partners for the weekend. Easygoing Helen is the mother of four who while mainly content with her life is also a little wistful for the wild freedom of her youth. The first thing Jo notices about Ereka is her weight, but as a mother to a brain injured teenager, the women tend to cut Ereka some slack. CJ is a lawyer, divorced from the father of her three children, but enjoying a new live in relationship. Jo doesn’t know much about Summer, who CJ has invited, but she is pretty quick to judge the pretty blonde Zumba instructor who is on her third marriage, only to find that there is much more to the woman than meets the eye. Jo invited Maeve, a Susan Boyle look a like, thinking she would add something interesting to the group. Though the mother of an adult son, Maeve, a professor in social anthropology, is interested in much more than men and children. Only Virgina has been unmarried and childless, enjoying a glamorous career as a location scout for film and television, she has been friends with Helen since kindergarten though and Jo can’t help be a little jealous.
As the champagne flows, the diverse group chat freely and despite the best of intentions, the topic of conversation soon veers towards family, and children in particular. Each of the women have had very different experiences of motherhood, and I love the honesty with which Fedler allows her character to talk about their experiences. Motherhood, for all the joy it offers, is a tough job and requires sacrifices, both small and large. Each woman is doing the best they can but they all secretly wonder is they are doing it ‘right’. Virgina may be the only childless one in the group but her own mother, with whom she had a complicated relationship, is dying which offers a different perspective to the discussion.
The Reunion is about more than just a exploration of mothering though, is about women reclaiming their identity as individuals, coming to terms with the choices they have made and looking towards a future when motherhood will not define them. For Jo this is the biggest challenge, figuring out how to be a good mother, a good wife, a good friend, and a good person.

The Reunion is a great, entertaining read. If you are a mother, then you will recognise yourself in these characters, in their hopes and fears and regrets. As a mother of four (aged 6 to 15) I wish I could have joined these women, to become part of their candid conversation and share my own stories. Obviously, a girls weekend away is long overdue with my own group of friends.
… (més)
½
 
Marcat
shelleyraec | Apr 30, 2012 |
From the first I was drawn in by Fedler's writing style. Faith has a strong voice in this novel and she shares her life with you. I quickly came to care about her - perhaps indentifying with the fact that it is something she so desperately needs. Tragic losses have shaped Faith to become a woman who takes on the pain of everyone, the responsibility for the loss of her brother, Joshua's early death, Carol's mental instability and the lives of the women who seek her help when they have been raped, battered and murdered by the ones who are supposed to love them. The personal cost of these accumulating tradegies are thoughtfully examined. Faith is silently suffering, fearful and unwilling to risk finding a space for herself and her own needs until she has no choice but to find the things she has lost. Her character is complex but sympathetic and vividly drawn.Fedler draws on her own career experience with domestic violence, as she explains at the end of book, her characters honor women, men and children who have tragically lost their lives due to (mainly) family violence.Things without a name is confronting, yet tender and unbearably sad with moments of joy. Honest and enriching, a wonderful novel.… (més)
 
Marcat
shelleyraec | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | May 9, 2011 |
'Faith, a legal counsellor in a women's crisis centre, deals with damaged and fragile lives on a daily basis. However she is in crisis within her own life and then a chance meeting sets her on the path to finding some happiness out of all this despair that surrounds her.

Domestic violence is the central theme and the authors personal experience is evident here, giving insight into the difficulties faced by victims and their advocates which I found interesting. The listing of those who have lost their lives at the conclusion of the novel makes the story all the more poignant.

However with all seriousness aside I found reading this novel a real pleasure where I smiled, laughed and shed a few tears. All the characters are wonderfully drawn and the author's insight into the complexity of families with all their frailties and hidden secrets was wonderful. I will be searching for more from this author, recommended.
… (més)
3 vota
Marcat
jeniwren | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Jul 3, 2009 |

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Obres
13
Membres
148
Popularitat
#140,180
Valoració
3.1
Ressenyes
5
ISBN
51
Llengües
2

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