The Little Bride
by Anna Solomon
Anna Solomon is an excellent writer; this is evident from the first page. A teenage girl is being examined by a doctor, to make sure she is healthy and fit to be transported to America as a mail-order bride. She makes the incredibly difficult journey, and is immediately disappointed. Her husband is twice her age and has two teenaged sons that live with him. He is cold to her, and his extremely Orthodox Judaism often causes arguments between them.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is gritty and realistic almost to a fault. She writes of subjects most people don’t like to read, such as abuse, extremely unpleasant sex, a medical examination of her lady parts and bottom, the horrors of traveling by boat to America—what people eat to survive and how their bowels react to the journey— and how extreme weather patterns in the Great Plains impact everyday life and the quest for survival.
If you can get past the cringe-worthy descriptions of death, various bodily functions, sex, and life on the prairie, there is one other obstacle to overcome: an unlikable heroine. With all she must endure, it seems impossible not to root for her. However she managed it, Solomon wrote a character with little more than survival as her defining characteristic. She is not kind, intelligent, caring, ambitious, thoughtful, humble, or selfless. Now, if you can get past those two faults, you’ll be able to appreciate an extremely well-written historical novel. Solomon has an incredible talent and vast historical knowledge; I’d love to see her write something akin to a James Michener epic.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is gritty and realistic almost to a fault. She writes of subjects most people don’t like to read, such as abuse, extremely unpleasant sex, a medical examination of her lady parts and bottom, the horrors of traveling by boat to America—what people eat to survive and how their bowels react to the journey— and how extreme weather patterns in the Great Plains impact everyday life and the quest for survival.
If you can get past the cringe-worthy descriptions of death, various bodily functions, sex, and life on the prairie, there is one other obstacle to overcome: an unlikable heroine. With all she must endure, it seems impossible not to root for her. However she managed it, Solomon wrote a character with little more than survival as her defining characteristic. She is not kind, intelligent, caring, ambitious, thoughtful, humble, or selfless. Now, if you can get past those two faults, you’ll be able to appreciate an extremely well-written historical novel. Solomon has an incredible talent and vast historical knowledge; I’d love to see her write something akin to a James Michener epic.