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A review by celiarl
London Street by Jane E. Griffioen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.
- follows life in a Calvinist community in GR in the 60s/70s... all Dutch immigrants
- mom & sister are in and out of psych ward, but family isn't aware of why they're there
- mom & dad pretend as if older sister's baby is theirs. Sister breaks and takes off with baby "brother"
- race riots in GR
I am DNFing because I am not in love with the writing style, and feel that the memoir isn't teaching me much that's new. The writing feels juvenile, and you can tell it has basically been self-published. I feel like the way the story moves along speaks to the fact that the author doesn't have experience writing for an audience outside of her "bubble". I can't imagine someone unfamiliar with this community getting a lot out of this book.
I was intrigued by the premise as it felt like it would be another take on the Educated/How to Say Babylon trope, but it unfortunately fell very flat for me.