So Much For That by Lionel Shriver
Shep is ready to fulfil his dream of the ‘Afterlife’ – in other words, to pack it all in and move abroad – forever. He books three one way tickets and hopes his wife and son will join him. But then his wife has a bombshell of her own – she is terminally ill…
My thoughts so far…
I am not usually a fan of very long novels, so the 500+ pages do seem a bit daunting. But straight away I found the story interesting as Shep packs his bag to leave, wondering if his wife and teenage son will join him. But the dream is shattered straight away and I wasn’t sure which direction the book would take at this early point. We also meet Shep’s friend Jackson early on in the book, and find out that he has a severely disabled daughter. So I could tell this wasn’t exactly going to be light reading, and I did wonder if the subject matter might be too heavy. But with this in the back of my mind, the next thing I know I’ve read over 100 pages, and so far I’m enjoying the book. Jackson actually provides some more light-hearted moments with his views on life and his theories involving Mooches and Mugs (which are borderline offensive – yet sort of make sense) and I’m looking forward to more from this character.
I think I know exactly how the book will end – but then I fully expect to be surprised – having recently read Shriver’s Big Brother, and having also Read We Need to Talk About Kevin, I know to expect the unexpected…
I’ll write a full review when I’ve finished the novel.
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