Also despite the one-liners, several readers did not find the book remotely humorous, and didn’t really like the writing style (this was particularly the case at the beginning of the book, which seemed very unstructured and hard to read).īut the principal, and most important criticism of this book, was that the mental illness from which Martha was suffering was not defined. How Patrick stayed with her I do not know.” “Martha continues to play the martyr and in fact wallows in the role.” “How convenient to blame everybody else.” “she could have helped other people and she didn’t, couldn’t or wouldn’t.” The portrayal of someone who for the most part is unable to think beyond herself, and is never helped to do so or to see treatment for her illness in a positive light, seemed to make for a book that came over as unkind, and not at all uplifting. Martha being so self-obsessed that she wore out all of her family and friends seemed to extend to the readers as well – many, many comments reflected this idea. Several other readers however said that in general they did not like it. The book was described as “well crafted”, and “an easy read/page turner”. Most people did appreciate the ‘one-liners’, particularly the ones concerning children. One or two readers said they enjoyed it (with some reservations), liked the writing style, the humour and observations, and thought the characters were well chosen. It has to be said that, despite this book’s reputation, not everyone was very impressed with it. St Just Thursday Evening Reading Group 2nd March 2023.
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