Martha Brooks’ True Confessions of a Heartless Girl is an examination of the power of community to heal the wounds that each of us silently endures Although subtly tied to the perspective of seventeen-year-old Noreen, the book provides a multiplicity of perspectives that compel the reader’s interest in the secret struggles of each character inhabiting the small town of Pembina Lake, MB, where citizens live shoulder to shoulder without ever really knowing each other. Playing with the metaphor of stars, Brooks examines the hopes and dreams of three generations yearning for something more.
The beauty of this novel lies in its language (veins of light flashed across the sky, an immense and rounded womb) and in the little moments of connection that overcome the loneliness that lies beneath the delicate surface of our skin. Essentially we are all, at some level, screw ups like Noreen. And only in the fleeting and rarest of moments where we reach out to another human being can we overcome all this pain we cause ourselves and others.
A lovely book, utterly lovely, but sad too. Hopeful in the end (which keeps Confessions from teetering into tragedy). Recommended for 16-18 year old readers or older. Mature themes and language.
The details: Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl. Toronto: Groundwood, 2002.
No comments:
Post a Comment