Foto do autor

Sonya Cobb

Autor(a) de The Objects of Her Affection

1 Work 57 Membros 4 Reviews

Obras de Sonya Cobb

The Objects of Her Affection (2014) 57 cópias

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

There is no Common Knowledge data for this author yet. You can help.

Membros

Resenhas

A quick read, ok characters, interesting premise of how a suburban mom finds herself in the position to become a thief.
 
Marcado
Terrie2018 | outras 3 resenhas | Feb 21, 2020 |
Sophia, the central character in Sonya Cobb’s The Objects of Her Affections is almost uncomfortably familiar: a Pittsburgh mother of two small children attempting to run a struggling home business while her husband travels extensively for his work as a museum curator. Regardless of careers or geographical location, most of us have observed the challenges posed by this sort of “normal” life, even if we haven’t lived it ourselves. Add into the mix a slightly over-priced, older house, bought with a variable rate mortgage at the peak of the housing bubble, and you can predict where this novel is going.

What you can’t predict is how Sophia responds to this situation. Having always handled her family’s finances, she decides that keeping up the mortgage payments is her responsibility. Her solution? Start stealing minor pieces from the museum at which her husband works and selling them to a dealer in New York.

Because Sophia doesn’t have the art history background her husband does, she accidentally steals a piece that’s important enough to be missed—which introduces the FBI to the story.

This isn’t a novel of high-end crime a la The Thomas Crown Affair. It’s much less flashy than that, a tale of family pressures and the mistakes that are sometimes made in response.

One of the best aspects of this book is the characterizations. The premise may sound a bit unlikely, but Cobb’s characters, especially Sophie, ring true. The reader can believe that Sophie’s backed herself into a corner where art theft seems like her only option. And being backed into a corner of unsustainable mortgage payments is all too easy to understand these days.

One of the things that I like about Sophia is that she isn’t always likeable. She plays her cards close to her chest, even with those most deserving of her trust. Her judgements of others come quickly. Nonetheless, her good intentions and concern for her family make it difficult for readers to become too critical of her.

If you’re looking for a piece of “women’s fiction” (a term I’m deeply ambivalent about) that moves beyond the usual expectations while keeping the relationships among its characters at its center, you’ll be quite pleased with The Objects of Her Affection.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Sarah-Hope | outras 3 resenhas | Aug 20, 2014 |
The Objects of Her Affection could fall into the coming-of-age category for it is as much about Sophie growing up and coming to terms with some painful issues from her childhood as it is about the realities of motherhood. More than once, Sophie flashes back to her disruptive childhood, and her feelings about it are so obviously influencing her adult behavior that even someone skimming the novel will make the connection. Once Sophie stops trying to make herself not in the image of her mother, she finally finds closure and is able to take responsibility for her actions.

The Objects of Her Affection does present motherhood in all its fantastic and dirty glory, which ends up being one of the highlights of the novel. There are the constant messiness, temper tantrums, lack of sleep, lack of patience, the juggling of societal expectations and reality, and more. Experienced mothers will laugh at Sophie’s battles with the SUV of strollers, her gratefulness of wearing a heavy sweatshirt over her braless frame when caught at home by unexpected visitors, and the overwhelming stress that comes with taking two children on any excursion, no matter how educational or appropriate. New mothers will take heart that in spite of all of this, no mother would trade in those moments for the kisses and hugs and unconditional love make it all worthwhile. Even Sophie, as misguided as she is sometimes, comes to realize this.

There are some great lessons about marriage within The Objects of Her Affection as well. The depiction of her marriage, especially in the beginning, is one of strength and love. Readers will have some concerns about the power imbalance within it, but the love and trust are there to offset these concerns. Unfortunately, Sophie’s secrecy and her need for control all but doom her marriage. Her inability to redefine her role as parent, mother, wife, and partner crack her very strong relationship and serve as a cautionary tale that marriage may start out as nothing but love, lust, and a general sense of well-being but it requires adjustments and changes. All of Sophie’s actions drive home this point with stark clarity.

As for Sophie’s actions regarding her thievery, one cannot help but feel that the entire situation feels too trite. Other characters mention the severity of her crimes, but it is as if Sophie never truly does understand. She faces the consequences of her actions but still has excuses for them. She apologizes but it seems as if she is apologizing for getting caught and for letting the situation get out of hand rather than for breaking the law. Then, there is the troublesome aspect of the recovery of those stolen items. The whole scenario is too fanciful and unrealistic, which would not necessarily be a bad thing if it were not for the fact that the rest of the story is frank and candid about the messiness of life.

On the whole, The Objects of Her Affection is mediocre at best. There are some very cute and poignant moments surrounding Sophie’s struggles with motherhood. Similarly, her fears and frustrations surrounding the questionable mortgage loan company are chilling when one remembers just how many people fell for the same pitch in real life and the consequences of those non-traditional mortgage loans. Even better, the story ends in ambiguity; just as life very rarely ends in clear-cut resolutions and answers, so does Sophie’s story. Still, the art theft sections are somewhat ridiculous, and her solutions for fixing everything are even more so. While it is not the main plot of the story, her thefts are such a key subplot that it severely weakens the overall story and all but condones a form of vigilante justice. It is a disappointing hiccup in an otherwise lighthearted but serious story about the craziness of motherhood and marriage.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
jmchshannon | outras 3 resenhas | Aug 6, 2014 |
Sophie is a married mother of two children who left her career at its peak to stay home with her kids. She had a miserable childhood with uncaring parents. She moved from place to place to place and no real home of which to speak and she wants more for her family. She finds an old house in Philadelphia that feels is just perfect and she rushes to buy it over the concerns of her somewhat absent husband. All she sees is the security of owning a house and not the problems that an old house can hide.

Her husband is in acquisitions for the Museum of Art and he is so involved with his job he leaves all of the "home stuff" to Sophie and doesn't question anything too deeply. She sets up a home office to go back to her computer coding job but finds that it has all passed her by in the time she took off to have her children. She doesn't understand why she isn't getting work and her old friend isn't really helping her.

She signs up for a risky mortgage and suddenly her payment is far more than she can afford and she finds herself scrambling for money. While visiting her husband at his office she finds things in disarray and something overcomes her and she steals a mirror. This leads her into a rabbit hole from which she might not be able to climb out.

I enjoyed the book even though I had some problems with it. Much of the plot surrounding the selling of the artifacts was a little too facile. And as it got towards the end a little hard to believe. I can't really go in to what specifically bothered me without totally exposing major plot points. The strength in the book was the character development as I truly felt I got to know this couple through the reading of the book. I did enjoy it despite the parts I found a bit incredible.
… (mais)
½
 
Marcado
BooksCooksLooks | outras 3 resenhas | Aug 5, 2014 |

Estatísticas

Obras
1
Membros
57
Popularidade
#287,973
Avaliação
½ 3.5
Resenhas
4
ISBNs
5

Tabelas & Gráficos