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The Mercy Rule
by
Perri Klass
At first glance, Dr. Lucy Weiss looks like the typical high-achieving, upper-middle-class working mother who, along with her husband, is bringing up much-beloved children in a world of Saturday morning soccer, private-school teacher conferences, and hyperaggressive classroom mommies. But Lucy’s own history makes her an anomaly. Having overcome a difficult childhood in fost...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
July 7th 2008
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Although this is a novel, it reads more like a bunch of short stories about one family. Lucy is a pediatrician who works with foster care kids, and has a husband and 2 children. I kept waiting for a climatic moment, which never seemed to come. I prefer her non-fiction.
this was written in a unique, rambling style - much like the thoughts of a busy mom. lucy is a former foster child, now a doctor in a clinic assessing at risk children, trying to take care of her family while worrying others. i thought it was pretty funny and right-on about parenting, a little preachy in parts, but worthwhile.
more like a 4 minus. but closer to a 4 than a 3. :)
more like a 4 minus. but closer to a 4 than a 3. :)
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I expected to like this a lot more than I actually did, because a few pages in a child's birthday party is referred to as a "goddamned birthday party" and I could completely understand the frustration of having an entire Saturday taken away by an event. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that each chapter was actually a story about the family the book is based on. This wouldn't be too much a of a problem if they ended satisfyingly, but too often they didn't. I was left with questions that just were...more
Jul 26, 2009
Kara Jacobs
added it
Another book that I expected to like and couldn't/wouldn't/didn't finish. I read maybe the first 1/5th of it, but I disliked the main character--obviously modeled on the author herself--so much that I just couldn't go on it was too painful. The main character was just too self-satisfied and faux-tough and faux-witty and faux-heart -of -gold -under- the -tough -exterior for me. (and the corollary, everybody else is stupid and grist for her faux -wit) I was really sad, because I've absolutely love...more
A woman who is a foster care success story takes us through a year or so of her experiences as a parent and as a doctor seeing young DSS patients. I liked the thoughtful nature of the book, and the depiction of the ever developing character of her relationship with her children. I couldn't quite understand why her children were in a private school if she disliked it so much. Also I found the relaxed meandering pace of the book slightly distracting, as I kept looking for clues as to when the stor...more
Hmmmm well Im not sure what to think about this book. I finished it last night and Im still not sure what the plot was, if there even was one. It seemed quite disjointed and jumpy and didn't flow all that well.
All that said, I guess I did enjoy it. I kept wanting to go back and read it anyway. And there was this character Freddy, a 7 yr old boy that reminded me a lot of my son Ben :)
So what was the book about? It was about a pediatrician that worked with the foster care system to make sure the c...more
All that said, I guess I did enjoy it. I kept wanting to go back and read it anyway. And there was this character Freddy, a 7 yr old boy that reminded me a lot of my son Ben :)
So what was the book about? It was about a pediatrician that worked with the foster care system to make sure the c...more
This is a random book that I took out from the library. At first I thought i might not like it, and was pleasantly surprised at how interested i was, but then as soon as I moved away from the first couple of chapters, it went downhill. The book is about a pediatrician who mainly works with kids from social services, something she feels strongly about because she was a foster child/adopted herself. she has a husband and two kids, but kind of ignores the husband half the time, and she blatantly di...more
A former foster child who was adopted by her sixth-grade teacher, Lucy Weiss is a pediatrician at a clinic specializing in foster kids. Lucy's deep (and occasionally unprofessional) devotion to her work brings her into contact and conflict with mothers like charismatic Delia, who eventually abandons her three kids—each named after one of the Von Trapp children. In Lucy's own family, her somewhat absent professor husband begs off of birthday party and soccer duties, leaving her as primary parent...more
This book should have been better. Many of the stories in it were interesting and engaging, but she never finished them. I felt like I was left hanging without knowing the end of anyone's story. I had problems with the changing point of view--come on! Decide if you're writing in first or third person and stick to it! And I am so tired of authors who feel like they need to pepper the dialogue with profanity. It doesn't improve your writing and makes you sound unintelligent.
I can't decide if this is a 3 star or 2.5. The protaganist is a doctor who was in the foster care system as a child and now treats kids in the foster care system. The book reads more as a series of vignettes about her work life and home life (including lots of snarky comments about the other parents at her kids' prep school) and doesn't have much of a plot. I enjoyed reading about her work and the families she interacts with, but I wish there had been more of a plot.
Great read - this is story about a doctor who works for the department of Social Services, evaluating children at risk in their homes or in the foster care system - a system she survived. As a mom, she is also struggling to relate to the needs/personalities of her own two children. Her upbringing, career and current family life are all woven intricately together, and I felt like I knew her personally almost immediately.
Will recommend for a bookclub reading!!
Will recommend for a bookclub reading!!
The author clearly knows how to write, but this book lacks a cohesiveness that would keep the reader interested. As a novel, this fails, majorly. It seems to be more like a collection of short stories about the same characters, and there is never a resolution or conclusion to the stories that she tells. Each story individually is interesting and the writing is very good, and I was really intrigued by the main character, but I would not recommend this book.
This novel centers around Lucy Weiss, a pediatrician at a clinic that serves foster kids, and her quirky family. It's not very cohesive; the story jumps around, and the author even switches from third person to first person at one point without explanation. I did enjoy getting to know the characters, and I liked reading about Lucy's work with foster kids and low income families.
Selected this book at random from the library, thinking that it was one I'd read the review for when it came out. It's more of a series of vignettes than a traditional story with a beginning, middle, and end. Liked the narrative tone used in writing from different characters points of view. Perri Klass is the doctor who wrote Quirky Kids, so she has good insight into describing her character Freddy.
I'm actually not sure why I continued to read this one after the first few chapters. It's hard to follow and jumps around a lot. While I was intrigued about the storyline at first, I found it was not what I expected. I thought it would be more about how the doctor determines whether or not to have children removed from their homes. But in fact, it doesn't really talk much about that at all. It's more about this doctor's home life than the foster care system.
Nice, easy to read fiction riffing on that theme of the overprivileged and where all the craziness with how we treat each other via our children will end.
Frankly, it got it's third star because of the concept of a Mercy Rule in real life. There are SO many times I look at a crowd of parents and kids and think...man, what happened to the mercy rule?
Frankly, it got it's third star because of the concept of a Mercy Rule in real life. There are SO many times I look at a crowd of parents and kids and think...man, what happened to the mercy rule?
This may not be a perfect novel, but it was the just right book at the just right time. If it is true that we read to know that we are not alone, then all size 12 (or 14), joyfully working, reluctantly affluent, mostly happily married, 40 something mothers rejoice... You are not alone, and Perri Klass definitely speaks (y)our language.
Story of a family. The protagonist, Lucy Weiss,is a pediatrician who treats foster children and children at risk of placement. She herself was a foster child after her mother died when Lucy was a young child. The material in this novel is undigested. It reads more like linked short stories. The author and/or her editor did not do their jobs properly. Also contains some undigested hostility toward middle class families and their appendages - teachers, coaches, etc.
This book caught my attention because my fiance Craig works in a group home and I was interested to read a story that involved foster homes and care - that being said, I was captivated the whole time even though I never felt as if the story had a climax. It was as if I was learning about an every day person's story and the events that happened in a certain period of time of their life. For $4.99 in a clearance bin, this book was a great find and I suggest it to anyone who likes a novel that can...more
I liked the premise, a pediatrician who was a foster kid, who is a doctor to foster kids, and trying to raise her own kids. Interesting layering of one persons perspective.
However, there were times where the writing was really disjointed, more stream of thought with vague connections.
I heard about Perri Klass thru my knitting circles, as she is a local and a knitter. I'd give one of her other books a try.
However, there were times where the writing was really disjointed, more stream of thought with vague connections.
I heard about Perri Klass thru my knitting circles, as she is a local and a knitter. I'd give one of her other books a try.
Um, what I learned was that this book had no point. I kept thinking that something, anything was going to happen and then blah it was over without any resolution. This woman was self-centered and it practically made her squirm watching her children. Uh, no vote to read this again!
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I have read this author since she was in Medical School. She writes well about women, children and parenthood in her fiction and essays. She is a pediatrician. She is also a knitter and I have requested some of her books with that subject from the library.
Jul 25, 2011
Krista Ehlers
added it
As an adoptive mom, I want to like all books related, even tangentially, to adoption, but I just couldn't get into this book. The character was likable, but I found that the writing dragged a bit, taking too long to cover any particular scene.
One star...I only made it 25 pages before abandoning this train wreck. I agree with Megan and Jennifer...this book has no plot. This pediatrician wrote an excellent, readable, moving book in "Treatment, Kind and Fair."....it seems like with this fiction book...its like a pediatrician working in the geriatric ward...one big mess!
Perri Klass is the kind of writer I would want to be. Her voice reads to me as if it could be my own. Usually, she writes about what it is to be a mother.
The last paragraph of this book absolutely broke my heart.
The last paragraph of this book absolutely broke my heart.
It was interesting--couldn't really follow much of the story--there wasn't a clear story line. But as a reflection on the foster care system and kids who don't fit in, in was interesting.
Aug 03, 2011
Jill
added it
I've read other books by Klass. I like her, she is funny and direct. Sort of a memoir about parenting, and a couple plots about foster parenting and Asperger's/quirky kids.
Read this on vacation in July; it's the kind of Perri Klass book I love; a doctor/mom main character I can relate to, crisis but not horrifying stuff, a satisfying ending.
Okay. She is a real-life pediatrician. In the book. She is a pred. who works in Boston - mostly with foster kids and DSS. She was a foster child herself. She tries to help them.
I'm about halfway into this book. I'm getting through it, but I'm not loving it. I really want to like it, but it's a bit aimless and choppy. The main character is a successful doctor who survived the foster care system, so she has some serious baggage - this should be a lot more compelling than it is - what's her point??? If you're going to give your book a provocative title like "The Mercy Rule," you should have something provocative to say, or at least something definitive to say! Have a poin...more
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Perri Klass is a pediatrician who writes fiction and non-fiction. She writes about children and families, about medicine, about food and travel, and about knitting. Her newest book is a novel, The Mercy Rule, and the book before that was a work of non-fiction, Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor, written in the form of letters to her older son as he starts medical school.
She lives i...more
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