Review: The Family Tabor (by Cherise Wolas)

My Rating: 4 stars

Having read (and loved) Cherise Wolas’ masterful debut novel The Resurrection of Joan Ashby last summer, I went into this book, her sophomore effort The Family Tabor, knowing that I would be treated to yet another beautifully written story with well-developed, realistic characters.   Wolas’ writing is exquisite – she is one of those rare talents who is able to take seemingly ordinary, everyday events and turn them into gorgeously rendered scenes, with descriptions that are intricate and richly detailed, yet deftly woven into the story in a way that never feels overwritten (to me at least).  As she did with her characters in her previous novel, Wolas goes deep into the minds of each member of the Tabor family and slowly, gently, brings forth the issues that each character faces, the inner conflicts that they struggle with and how those feelings, those emotions that feel so real, impact the rest of the family.  This is a character-driven story through and through and once again, just like with Joan Ashby, we get to know each of Wolas’ characters intimately, understand what makes each of them tick, the motivations behind their decisions, and the extent to which their backstories as well as actions taken in the past affect their lives in the present.

This is one of those books that requires a certain amount of patience to read, not because the concepts are particularly complicated or hard to understand, but rather the story is very introspective, and in a sense, almost requires the reader to approach with a contemplative mindset.  To me, there was also a philosophical element to the story and despite the descriptive details, I felt that there was also profound meaning in some of what was left unsaid throughout the story, leaving room for us to reflect and apply our own thoughts rather than dictate a particular direction to follow.  The story this time around also focuses on family dynamics and the delicate balance between the necessity of maintaining the bonds of family while still following one’s individual path and beliefs, however with this story, there was also the added element of faith and religion, which ended up being a bit more central to the story than the author originally intended (here’s a link to Wolas’ interview with Publisher’s Weekly where she talks a little bit about the religious element in her book: PW interview).   As a reader who is always seeking to learn about cultures different from my own, I appreciate the knowledge that I was able to gain about the Jewish faith, most of which was previously unknown to me.

With The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, Cherise Wolas set a tremendously high bar for herself and while I feel that this book lives up to those standards and is as excellently written as her debut, it didn’t have as profound of an impact on me as her previous novel did.  I had connected deeply with Joan Ashby, perhaps because of her being a writer and a storyteller, which are both things that are huge in my life as well.  In comparisons, I didn’t connect with the Tabor family as deeply, despite knowing them so intimately through the author’s amazingly intricate characterizations.  Even with that said, this was still a wonderful book, one that I enjoyed and savored, though didn’t “love” as much as the first one.  With yet another impressive work that I had the privilege of reading, Wolas is now on my list of favorite new “must-read” authors.  I can’t wait to see what she will come out with next!

Received ARC from Flatiron Books via NetGalley.

Review: The Resurrection of Joan Ashby (by Cherise Wolas)

My Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up 

I'm having a hard time writing this review because I know that nothing I say will be able to do justice to how great this book truly is.  I don't feel it's an exaggeration to say that this book was a "masterpiece," a uniquely exquisite work that I am overjoyed to have been given the opportunity to experience and savor.  From the very first chapter, up until the very end, and even now, having finished the book, one thought that has consistently entered my mind is the fact that this is Cherise Wolas' debut novel.  I am absolutely blown away by how much this book does NOT read like a first novel by an inexperienced writer, as the writing was very polished and engaging,  the prose was beautifully rendered, the story was extremely well-written, the characters were well-developed and very very realistic.  I also loved the stories within the story – the excerpts from the main character Joan Ashby's short story collections and novels, all of them so different and unique.  I can't help but wonder whether, like her character Joan, perhaps Wolas also started writing at a young age, continually perfecting her craft over the years, leading to this spectacular debut novel that reads nothing like a debut.   Whatever the case, one thing's for sure – Wolas is an immensely talented writer!

Plot-wise, I don't want to give away too much, though to be honest there really isn't a whole lot to give away in the first place, since there isn't really much "action" that takes place given that this is primarily a character-drive story.  The main character Joan Ashby is an extraordinarily talented writer, a voracious reader, magnificent storyteller since youth who, in her early twenties, becomes a literary sensation after publishing 2 short story collections that instantly hit bestseller lists and rake up various awards.  Having led a solitary life up to that point, Joan unexpectedly falls in love with Martin Manning, an eye doctor who later becomes famous in his own right, and Joan agrees to marry him under the condition that they enter a pact never to have children.  However, things don't go according to plan and not long into their marriage, at the height of her fame as a writer, Joan finds out that she is pregnant – when she sees how happy her husband is at the prospect of becoming a father, Joan makes a decision that alters the course of her life forever:  she decides to give up her successful career and dedicate herself to becoming a full-time mother.  She eventually raises 2 sons, Daniel and Eric, and it is not until decades later, when both her sons are grown, that she gets the chance to reignite her career, but then a devastating betrayal shatters her hopes and dreams, causing her to rethink all the past choices she made.  Even though the story is told from the third person point of view, we get to know Joan Ashby intimately, as we are given the chance to dive deep into her mind as a writer and as a mother, get to understand her innermost thoughts, the motivations behind her actions as she contemplates certain decisions she has to make, etc.  We also witness her inner struggle with keeping the "writer" part of herself alive while still devoting herself to a family she did not want but decides to embrace wholeheartedly. 

With Joan Ashby, Wolas created a character so vividly real and complex that I truly felt like I was reading a memoir of a real-life writer rather than a fictional story.  In fact, I was so invested in Joan's life and journey that, by the time I got to the end of the book, I was a bit saddened at having to say goodbye, as despite her many flaws, I had grown to like Joan and wanted to continue the journey with her -- it was as though a close writer friend I had grown up with suddenly decided to move away, taking with her the fascinating, unfinished stories that she never got the chance to finish telling me.  I wanted to continue reading those stories she had written, to read them in their entirety, to get to know the characters more intimately, to know how the stories end – I especially loved the story about Paloma Rosen and to be honest, I felt a little disappointed that I didn't get to read the rest of that story.

Speaking of the excerpts of Joan Ashby's stories, that brings me to the one "complaint" of sorts that I had with this book – minor in the scheme of things for sure, but it still made me struggle with the rating, ultimately settling with 4.5 stars rather than 5.  I obviously loved the "stories within the main story" written by the main character Joan, however the part that I didn't really like was how the stories interrupted Joan's life story itself.  It was a little distracting to me to be reading about Joan's life for a good number of pages, then all of a sudden there is a long excerpt (at times several pages worth) from one of the stories she wrote, then it picks back up again with her life story.  Perhaps because I was so engaged in Joan's own story that I wanted to know what happened next with her and her family without having to be sidetracked by different stories  – especially with those stories having  such great merit on their own.  Maybe having a more structured format with those stories (technically excerpts of the stories) at the beginning or end of the chapters would have been better so that the flow of the main story would've felt less interrupted?  I guess it also didn't help that I was reading an ARC version of the book and for some reason, there was no physical differentiation between the main story and Joan's stories until the last third of the book or so when Joan's stories were italicized so I knew where they started and ended.  Regardless of this minor issue with the book's format though, I still loved the stories as I said earlier and felt that they really gave me insight into Wolas' range as a writer (since Joan is a fictional character so Wolas technically wrote those stories) – they were indeed fascinating stories, way different from the tone of the book itself in some places!

I don't usually round up when I rate books but I made an exception in this case because to be honest, this book was well-deserving of 5 stars!  This was a gem of a book, one that I highly recommend and am actually contemplating buying a physical copy myself once it publishes on August 29^th.  Oh and if Ms. Wolas ever decides to publish Joan's collection of stories and/or novels in their entirety someday, I will absolutely be one of the first in line to buy them (especially the Paloma Rosen one, which I desperately want to read)!

Received advance reader copy from Flatiron Books via NetGalley