The unconventional U.S. debut of prizewinning Dutch author Gerritsen. Diagnosed with a terminal illness, a mother known for her lack of empathy reunites with her daughter, but will the pair finally be able to connect?
Is this...meant to be funny, or disturbing, or both? It takes work to figure out how to read Craving...but that work is extremely rewarding. Gerritsen’s stark prose leaves a lot of space for interpreting and reinterpreting [protagonist] Elisabeth’s tone and motivations, which feels generous, both to the reader and to the characters ... Before you judge these characters, check your own empathy levels. Craving ends up offering some deep insights into the ways women process emotions—or fail to process them—during difficult times ... Droll and horrific and incredibly moving, the ending makes you feel the full weight of...'light words.' Is this...meant to be funny, or disturbing, or both? It takes work to figure out how to read Craving...but that work is extremely rewarding. Gerritsen’s stark prose leaves a lot of space for interpreting and reinterpreting Elisabeth’s tone and motivations, which feels generous, both to the reader and to the characters ... Before you judge these characters, check your own empathy levels. Craving ends up offering some deep insights into the ways women process emotions—or fail to process them—during difficult times ... Droll and horrific and incredibly moving, the ending makes you feel the full weight of...'light words.'
The handful of characters, circumscribed setting, and spare prose style effectively highlight the complexities of a mother-daughter incompatibility that is never quite resolved. Award-winner Gerrsiten’s first novel to be translated into English from the Dutch will appeal to readers interested in exploring world literature.
Bizarre interior landscapes are exposed to the light in Gerritsen’s off-kilter, at times blackly comic work of fiction ... Gerritsen’s searching story of alienation and separation may well engender discomfort in the reader, yet there’s empathy too, especially in Elisabeth’s slow fade from the picture. The lives of others, in all their peculiarity, are given sympathetic scrutiny in this diverting European oddity.
