Reading List of the Month

While recovering from the aftermath of my leg surgery in the first quarter of 2021, I had more time to devote to my reading because I was practically chained to my bed. I even remember conducting online classes in bed while Dan was dressing my wounds. When one is bedridden, activities are limited to those that only the hands can perform. Good thing, reading is one of them.

I ordered two books online, "Little Fires Everywhere" and "Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine." Both were on the bestsellers' list and earned good reviews from online sites like Goodreads, BookBrowse, and others.

ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman

A book cover is the first thing that I notice when I scour the shelves in a bookstore. I am drawn to artsy, colorful, and intriguing cover designs.

When I came across Eleanor Oliphant, I really thought it was a typical chick-lit but it turned out to be more than I expected.

Eleanor Oliphant's character knows what real loneliness is. Behind her quirky and judgmental demeanor lies a child whose scarred childhood deeply affected her relationships with people.

She was used to the idea of being alone that anyone who tries to get close to her, she immediately drives away. Here is a woman who would rather be alone than be in the company of people whom she feared might hurt her eventually. The wall she built around herself can be blamed on her fractured past. 

I honestly believe that our past can dictate our present and future behavior. Who we are or what we become is a product of our experiences.

In Eleanor's case, it was her childhood that scarred her for life. The tragedy that befell Eleanor's family is something that no one would wish on any individual. It's heart-wrenching and makes you wonder if stories like these happen in real life.

However, Eleanor's heavily guarded heart and soul were changed by her encounter with a man named Raymond. He saw Eleanor's struggles and pains and accepted all of them without judgment. It is possible to establish a friendship with someone who may be a little out of our league if only we look beyond their imperfections.

Their friendship was sealed deeper by their connection to an old man, Sammy, whose life they saved when he collapsed on the side of the road. Eleanor learned to open up a little, slowly and gradually breaking the walls she has built around herself.

The story's twist and Eleanor's painful past will unfold in the last 10 pages of the book. Her journey from being an abused child, surviving a fire that her mother deliberately started, getting shuttled from one foster home to another, to making it on her own as an adult is quite remarkable.

Indeed, our past has a way of shaping our future but we don't need to be stuck to the bitter remnants of our past.

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng

Motherhood has many faces. That is the premise of this gem of a novel that I read in less than 3 days. 

Two completely different women are at the center of this story: Elena Richardson and Mia Warren. Their stark contrast is what makes this book intriguing. Elena was raised in a utopian type of environment where everything is seemingly perfect except for her queer youngest daughter, Izzy. Mia, on the other hand, struggled in her role as a mother. She had gone through the unimaginable and she considers herself a survivor.

The story chronicles motherhood from the perspective of women with different backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences. Here are my major takeaways:

• Every mother struggles in their role. One may appear to be perfect but in truth, no one really is.
• Everyone has a backstory that explains their behavior, their motivation, and actions.
• The love of a mother to her child is limitless. The stories of Bebe and Mia are proof of this.
• No one will love us more than our mothers.
• We are often haunted by our past --- the mistakes we committed, the people we severed our ties with. Our present will not be as happy unless we come to terms with our past.
• We can't dip our fingers on other people's business. We have problems of our own.
• We can't impose our lifestyle and beliefs on other people. What may be good for us may not be good for them because our experiences are not the same.
• It's completely okay to be different from the rest. We can't always conform to what society expects. We have to embrace our uniqueness and celebrate our individuality

The novel raises a question that is worth reflecting on: Who should be called a mother? The one who carried the child for 9 months or the one who cared for the child after he/she was born?