Jennifer Haigh

An extremely engaging read about the defenses that we have to protect us when dealing with others. It is ultimately about each person's condition -- the bits of them that keep them from being completely fulfilled and the fundamental weaknesses that define personalities.

Simultaneous to the extremely moving emotional story is an extremely well-researched scientific one. In my career I have met several girls & women with Turner's syndrome & every bit of Gwen's story rang true. Similarly, I have met several scientists and doctors & the personalities of Billy and Frank and the details of their professional lives down to the minutia was done sincerely. Each character is well-rounded, likeable, flawed and ultimately believable, which is the true strength of the novel.… (more)

Engrossing and tense novel centering on a women's reproductive health care clinic located on Mercy Street in Boston during the punishing winter of 2015. The characterizations, particularly of Claudia, a clinic worker and main character, but also of the other main characters, are strong and believable. Claudia is passionate about her job but the bad parts of it -- the patients she can't help, or won't let themselves be helped, the constant and intimidating presence of anti-abortion protestors, coupled with her somewhat unsuccessful attempts to erase her past life and unconventional upbringing, are taking a severe toll on her emotional health. The story illustrates the dark forces surrounding the anti-abortion and white supremacist movements and how they menace the rest of society. It was hard to read, but hard to put down.


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The Condition the title refers to is Turner's syndrome. A condition in which young girls never go through puberty,leaving them women, locked in girls bodies. The story can be summed up by one wonderful paragraph very late in the novel:

"She no longer wonders what is normal,whether she feels correctly. It is impossible to say.Her whole life she's known that her condition is untreatable. Now she understands that it requires no treatment. The difference is vast;you could fit a whole life in the gulf between. And so she has."
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I very much liked Mercy Street and found a lot to like in this novel as well. The blade is not as sharp -- Mercy Street made incisive points about the connection between white supremacy and abortion -- but the arm is just as strong: the plot is a mighty construction and Haigh manages to keep it standing until the very end. Only one character struck me as truly wasted (figuratively and literally), and that's Darren. He did get Gia onstage but I'm not sure we needed her either. Even so, the characters are well-drawn and honest and the violation of the land and of every thing else comes across loud and clear as a central theme. I like Haigh's writing very much. I'm looking forward to her next novel.… (more)