Idaho in Around the World in 80 Books

Mar 15, 2018 Lindsey Z rated it it was amazing

Within the first 10-20 pages, Ruskovich deeply develops tones of melancholy, anxiety, and longing. I was immediately pulled in and held so skillfully by Ruskovich for the entire 300+ pages. The main arc of the story follows Wade and Ann, husband and wife, and Wade's ex-wife Jenny, who is incarcerated for an unspeakable act (quite literally--the horrific act she commits is not actually narrated in the novel, just hinted at in bits and pieces through memory and conjecture). Ruskovich chose to cons Within the first 10-20 pages, Ruskovich deeply develops tones of melancholy, anxiety, and longing. I was immediately pulled in and held so skillfully by Ruskovich for the entire 300+ pages. The main arc of the story follows Wade and Ann, husband and wife, and Wade's ex-wife Jenny, who is incarcerated for an unspeakable act (quite literally--the horrific act she commits is not actually narrated in the novel, just hinted at in bits and pieces through memory and conjecture). Ruskovich chose to construct her narrative by alternating timeline moments and omniscient perspectives; each chapter is labeled with a date to orient readers to when on the timeline (which spans from the early 1970s when Wade and Jenny first meet all the way to 2025 when Ann and Jenny first meet) they are in the story. This device enabled a slow, yet intentional revealing of memories and fragments of various story threads without overly confusing or jarring readers by alerting them to the time change.

To me, it seems like Ruskovich is deeply invested in how one single act within a family can ripple through the years following it. Ann's attempts to reconstruct Wade's failing and secretive memory of Jenny's act were stunningly breathtaking and alluring. I felt like I was there with her, longing to know the haunting past of her husband. Ann's entire marriage to Wade and, you could argue, even her identity, are defined by that one day back in 1995 when Wade and Jenny took their two young daughters up to a mountain to chop down wood and neither daughter came back home. Ann is tortured by a past she never even lived. Ruskovich so adroitly narrates the fractured yet all-encompassing way that our memories and those of our loved ones become ingrained facets of who we are today and catalysts in our perennial desire to better understand people and things so that we might love more bravely. Here are a couple of examples of her exquisite writing:

"She has taken Wade's past and she's laid it out in front of her, her future a backward trail, even as it disappears. That slow erasure, that white line through all that darkness in his memory, is what she will follow through her life. And surely it will lead her to her own secret prison, will take her right up to its doors."

"She would walk without sleeping, walk until she collapsed on that mountain she made terrible. Then she would fold herself up inside a half-believed footprint, and she would die there. Searching. Coyotes would eat her daughter's name right out of her."

Inside the women's prison, we also meet Elizabeth, a woman who befriends a reclusive and often silent Jenny. Her violent urges to possess yet also push away parallel those of Wade as he loses his memory. At the heart of her darkness is, indeed, light, and an insatiable desire to be loved. She and Jenny form an unexpected and rich friendship that I found touching, despite the fact that they both committed brutal crimes against people they loved. And that is what Ruskovich does so well: She makes you feel sympathy for characters who might not even deserve it, but not in a "let's feel bad for the serial killer because he has a dark past" kind of a way. Instead, she unearths a truth that we all have the potential to come undone enough to destroy those we love if we, even for a brief moment, let our jealousies and rages become too looming to control. What you come to realize through Ruskovich's emotional archaeology is that it could have been you, and what a profound realization that is.

Even though there is a "mystery" element to this novel and a family crime takes place, it is not a story for readers who love plot-driven narratives. Instead, if you, like me, enjoy a writer who strangles and then frees your lungs and heart in the same sentence and develops character with precision and strong emotional resonance, this novel has so much to offer. It is some of the most beautiful writing I've read in a while and I can't recommend this writer enough. I will definitely be on the lookout for her next novel. ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 Nancy H rated it did not like it

This is a well-written and well-crafted story, but I found it depressing, mainly because I have known so many people, somme in my family, with Alzheimer's, and so many others with tragedies in their families. The whole thing just left me sad. ...more

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May 25, 2017 Tanya rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: format-audiobook, 2017

I would give this 3.5 stars, but as an audiobook this was a bit harder to follow with the varying perspectives and the frequent shifts to different years within the book the boos. Having multiple narrators might have improved that and made it easier to follow.

I did like the many layers of each individual that were revealed throughout the book. He ending was hard to believe, but if you can embrace it as plausible it is really tremendous.

I would give this author another go for future books, but ...more

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