Sophie Cooke

I wonder . . . Cooke has framed this novel as Catherine’s memories (pg. 4: “Her memory was tumbling backwards . . . “), but most of the happenings in the novel are not within view of the narrator, Catherine, who was sick in bed all summer. Did other family members tell her stories? Did she make stories up to ease the disappointment of being bedridden most of the summer? Can we trust the narrator? I like the book better when I think of the narrator as being unreliable and Cooke’s intention is to bury that treasure for the attentive reader. If, on the other hand, the narrator was meant to be trusted and believed, then the book’s likeability drops several notches for me. Perhaps without Natasha’s acceptance and willing participation in her husband’s deviant behavior in the bedroom I might have been able to believe Catherine. But this one thing cast doubt on everything else.
Natasha complains to her husband that he “hides behind his words” because he uses lofty, academic language that appears to but isn’t necessarily meant to genuinely communicate. Cooke’s prose often mirrors George’s style. Is that to give the reader the feel of what it would be like to listen to someone who favors language above relationship? Was that what Cooke meant to do? Or am I giving her more credit than she deserves?… (mais)