It took me a while to finish Ordinary People, not because I didn't like it but because it was definitely a slower pace book. I couldn't really describe what it's about without sounding boring. But it's not!
This is a book about normal life, parenthood, adult relationships and what it means to be a grown-up, set in South London at the very beginning of the Obama years. It's a book about Ordinary People.
So why read it, you ask? Why would you want to read about something so close to reality, where nothing crazy happens, there is no mystery to solve aside from that of the interpersonal relationships between husband and wife, mother and child, men and women?
It's a valid question and I did ask myself if I wanted to keep reading the book when it became clear that nothing particularly interesting would happen.
There are two main reasons I chose to keep going, one of which is very personal to me and telling of the fact that I need to read more: Ordinary People is the first book I have read about normal people doing normal things in which all the protagonists are black. It sounds stupid and I am ashamed of it, but I've read countless books about white middle class people living in suburbia, yet never once have I read anything similar set in a black community.
The second and main reason I recommend this book? Diana Evans is an absolutely stunning writer. Her prose is a masterpiece, very distinctive, incredibly rich, yet simple and unpretentious. Ordinary People is no Ordinary book. It is well-written, thought-provoking and surprisingly different from anything I've ever read.
* I received this book from Penguin Random House Canada for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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