I bought this book for the same reason one of the other readers mentioned. The author received high praise for his writing ability, and the premise of the story interested me.
Maggie Duke is brutally assaulted in her home late at night. She sustains a head injury that makes it difficult initially for her to remember the details of the attack. But when she does remember, she believes it was her husband who attacked her. The story is told both in the past and in the present. When Maggie's version of her attack is discredited, she forces herself to examine as many details of her past and present as she can, and she uses trial documents and transcripts to jog her memory.
It would seem logical that, given the circumstances of Maggie's predicament, she would be a sympathetic character. I did not find that to be the case. While I agree that Paul Jaskunas is a talented writer, his Maggie Duke character came across to me as tediously self-absorbed rather than sympathetic. And while some may see Jaskunas' writing as almost poetic, I found it to be somewhat ponderous. The simple act of aimlessly driving down a country road became next thing to an exploration of the meaning of life. Sometimes a road is just a road and a drive is just a drive. No other characters in this book were developed to the extent Maggie Duke was, so I found no other characters very interesting. They existed merely for Maggie's use; a means for her to more deeply explore herself.
Yet in spite of those criticisms, I do think this book was well written, and the story was well thought out. I'd be interested in seeing what Jaskunas does next.
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