Monica Wood

This is a riveting tale of redemption and second chances, ensconced in a framework of books and reading. Unlike many books about books, there is much more to the story than a book shop or a library. This book demonstrates the power of the reading life. Monica Wood sets her story in Portland, Maine. Because it is neither a small town nor a big city, it works well to allow her characters to live separately, yet still “run into” each other unexpectedly. It makes the coincidences more show more tolerable. Wood explores the consequences of bad choices early in life, examines the road to a new beginning and also allows for the possibilities that come to those in their second or third act. I am curious to explore some of her other works. show less

Solid 4 for the warmth of the plot, well-developed characters, and emotional depth. Hits a trifecta of special features: lovably cranky cats, personable parrots, and books

This is a redemption or second-chance type of story for all three characters who grow to love each other and become a family of choice. It's a story laced with kindness, generosity, optimism, and resilience.

A few nits that slightly overcooked the plot:

1) When religion or God is brought up, there's a subtly negative or show more lightly mocking tone. It's clear the redemption of these characters comes despite God. God's existence isn't so much doubted as dismissed as absent and/or disinterested. In case that's too subtle, there's a casual drop that Violet may have been sexually abused (at least propositioned) by a pastor. Oh, and her family weaponizes God against her.

All that seemed irrelevant to and unnecessary for the story or evolving the characters. For many who are grieving or hurting, their faith is an important source of hope and comfort. Why venture there and potentially diminish that?

2) Though I cheered for it to happen, it's a little murky (or slightly contrived?) that the characters mesh so tightly and well. Each of them is broken in some way (as are we all) and yet, once they meet - poof, mostly insta-healed and whole. That said, the characters are so well-drawn you'll just let that go and go along with it. At least I did.

3) Violet is drawn to the wrong men; or, the wrong men are drawn to Violet. That's never dealt with. The coda attempts to resolve some loose ends and unconnected dots, maybe to mixed effect.

Nits aside, this is absolutely worth reading and celebrating that quiet, quality novels like this still get published. Can recommend The One-in-a-Million Boy, too. The author tells stories that deserve and worth a broad(er) readership. show less

A warm hearted story, with memorable characters. Violet, a 22 year old woman is completing a prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter and DUI. Harriet is a retired teacher who runs a book group at the women's prison. Frank is a retired machinist and husband of the woman who died in the car accident with Violet.

The author is skillful in exploring the depths of the personalities and emotional lives of her characters. She weaves literature into the story as a means to help the characters show more reflect on their own lives (hence the title). It is also a story of forgiveness and redemption. One theme through the book is what defines a life, the worst thing or the best thing that you've ever done. And who gets to decide that, or can it be claimed by one's self. show less

I expected to enjoy this book. I enjoyed Ernie's Ark and I thought Secret Language was touching and amazing. I knew that it would probably be a bit surreal to read a memoir about a town I know better than I know any other place in the world. The place I lived for a third of my life. I didn't know that it would change the way I feel about that town.

Like Wood, I knew Mexico as a town in Maine before I ever knew it as a country. My cousin Kate always said that the smell of the paper mill meant show more we were almost to our grandparent's house. The mill is not a pleasant smell. It permeates everything and makes newcomers gag. But for me that smell means family. It is the smell of my grandparents home and where I graduated high school. That mill employed my grandfather, fed my mother and my uncles, paid for my Christmas gifts and filled the gas tank in my first car.

Monica Wood has developed an incredible memoir around that town. She has taken one tragic, poignant and life-changing year and turned it into a piece of art that delves into questions of mortality, spirituality, community and culture through the eyes of a very young child.

Wood develops the mill into a character of its own in a way that seems to me perfectly obvious and yet I had never realized it before. This is the reality of a town built around a mill. In such a town the mill IS a character, a being all its own. It is what feeds the town while the town, in turn, feeds it. The town gives it their fathers, husbands, wives, daughters, sons. Feeds it time, energy and souls.

For me this book is obviously personal. Mexico is a town I have very mixed feelings about, but no matter what it is the place where I find a large portion of my family and most of my known ancestral history. With both my grandparent's gone I now go to Mexico to visit my nieces and nephews, my parents and my siblings. Even though I left the town over a decade ago, it's the kind of place that never truly leaves you.

If you've ever lived in a Maine mill town read this book. And if you haven't, read it because Monica Wood can give you a beautiful idea of what it is like to live in a riverside mill town. All the good, the bad, the mill town uglies and the games children play in a town like Mexico. show less