#Heatherthetotality #MatthewWeiner #Review
HEATHER, THE TOTALITY by MATTHEW WEINER
The Breakstone family arrange themselves around their daughter Heather, and the world seems to follow: beautiful, compassionate, entrancing, she is the greatest blessing in their lives of Manhattan luxury. But as Heather grows-and her empathy sharpens to a point, and her radiance attracts more and more dark interest-their perfect existence starts to fracture. Meanwhile a very different life, one raised in poverty and in violence, is beginning its own malign orbit around Heather.
Heather, the Totality is published by Little, Brown on 7th November 2017
*My thanks to the publisher for my advance copy of the novel via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review*
I was intrigued by this book; I think the unusual title certainly caught my attention but the main pull had to be the author. Matthew Weiner is best known as the creator of Mad Men and this is his first novel, and it is certainly very different from anything I was expecting.
It's interesting how often the importance of action and dialogue are sited as essential for grabbing the reader, building tension, developing characters and driving pace. As a creator of such a popular TV series, you might think that Weiner's writing would adhere to these expectations but actually what you get in this novel is something very different, yet as captivating. Heather the Totality is all written from the third person narrative and includes very little dialogue, but it is still tense, menacing and engaging.
There were two other things that struck me about this book; the first was the length. It really is only about 140 pages long and really is a one or two sitting read, yet actually, although it is perfectly contained in these 140 pages I was left with the feeling that there was much more unspoken or lurking beneath the lines that perhaps needed a second read or deeper consideration. Perhaps that's the inner English Teacher in me trying to escape again or that slightly (alright, largely!) geeky part of me that likes to really unpick sentences, images and words, but I did find something impressive in the very distinctive style of narrative.
And that's the second thing that struck me about Heather, the Totality; the narrative structure and style. I think it will divide readers a little, particularly those who choose to read it because of the Mad Men connection. It does takes a while to get used to the author's style. There are long sentences and long paragraphs with barely any dialogue. Any dialogue used is wrapped up in exposition and therefore the writing disguises itself as straightforward prose yet it is heavy with suggestion and implication. For example, Bobby's mother worked at the local beauty parlour "which was ideal since it allowed her to follow her soap operas, skim from the register and evaluate others' appearance". Due to the economy of pages, there has to be a deft touch to the prose and every word has to work to earn it's place on the page.
Perhaps the most intriguing or compelling part of the novel is the relationship between Heather's parents. This is a fascinating marriage and a fascinating insight into parenting. Karen, Heather's mother, is so devoted, so involved with Heather that she excludes Mark to the point at which he feels uncomfortable and unable to work out how to connect and share in Heather's daily life. There is such an evocation of bitterness and resentment that the characters become ugly. But as the novel continues, Weiner reveals more of Karen and the reader begins to feel pity and empathy for her as her inability to make friends, initiate herself within conversations and overcome her sense of worthlessness are shared. I'm not sure if the author wishes for us to take sides, to view the characters differently at various points in the novel or to like, loathe or sympathise with them or whether he is just presenting the relationship and recounting the behaviour of the parents and the effect this will have on their family, but it makes good reading.
Perhaps the most intriguing or compelling part of the novel is the relationship between Heather's parents. This is a fascinating marriage and a fascinating insight into parenting. Karen, Heather's mother, is so devoted, so involved with Heather that she excludes Mark to the point at which he feels uncomfortable and unable to work out how to connect and share in Heather's daily life. There is such an evocation of bitterness and resentment that the characters become ugly. But as the novel continues, Weiner reveals more of Karen and the reader begins to feel pity and empathy for her as her inability to make friends, initiate herself within conversations and overcome her sense of worthlessness are shared. I'm not sure if the author wishes for us to take sides, to view the characters differently at various points in the novel or to like, loathe or sympathise with them or whether he is just presenting the relationship and recounting the behaviour of the parents and the effect this will have on their family, but it makes good reading.
I can't give this book a long review as any further quotations would mean sharing too much of the 140 pages. What I would say is this is very different, provocative, original and there are some beautiful sentences and poignant statements about marriage, parenting, adults, cruelty, human behaviour and life. This would make a great novel for a book group as it is short, very readable and would result in lots of conversations about style, structure and characterisation as well as themes.
I would recommend it.
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