Official Review: Great’ma by Jacqueline Wearing
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Official Review: Great’ma by Jacqueline Wearing
“Memory is quite something, isn’t it? It is only later in life that those things become important. One looks much more into the past than to the future.” Great'ma: A Life by Jacqueline Wearing is a novel that follows ninety-something-year-old Jennifer's story after she recovers from an illness, all the while reminiscing the events of her more youthful life. Great'ma is the name the family calls Jennifer, as she is the oldest in the family and a great-grandmother.
The book starts with Jennifer waking up to her great-grandson, Jeffrey, by her side after a death scare. Jennifer had just been moved from the hospital to Delphine's house, following her distaste for hospitals. Delphine is Jennifer’s granddaughter. Being confined to the bed, Jennifer not only helps confront several issues that arise in the present but also reminisces several memories from her more youthful days and makes new ones. We also see how Jeffery becomes even more attached to Jennifer after finding her notebook from several years past. Some of the memories readers will be exposed to include how she met her husband Edward, events that led to their marriage, their time living in the “big house” with her siblings and their spouses, her relationship with her children, and much more.
Having read the 159-page book, I can only rate it 2 out of 4 stars. I rated the book two points short of the perfect rating because I felt that it fell short in certain important areas. Firstly, it took me a lot of time to understand the characters. There were multiple characters, and the author introduced most of them suddenly in the story and only gave a hint of who they were later on in the story. It was almost as though the author took pride in leaving the readers in no man's land, letting them figure out the characters' relationship with Jennifer for themselves. For example, I was constantly contemplating Dotty's relationship with Jennifer until I finally figured that she was Jennifer's daughter. I believe a family tree early on, starting from Jennifer’s parents, would have solved this problem.
Another thing I found difficult to understand was Hilda's conversations. Hilda was one of Jennifer’s daughters. She always stopped halfway while speaking, and it was difficult for me to decipher what she intended to say. I initially thought that her mode of speech was an effect of trying to protect herself from spilling a secret about her niece's father's identity, but even when it was resolved, she continued to speak that way, which doesn’t make any sense to me. However, the book has some positives, and that’s why I can’t rate it any less than I have.
When I read the novel the second time, I enjoyed reading through Jennifer's past and present since I had already figured out each character's relationship with Jennifer. My favorite part was when I read through how some friends visited Jennifer, and their son, Joe, was so passionate about swimming that his father had to carry Jennifer down to the pool to watch Joe swim. Moreover, the book is expertly edited since there are no errors throughout the text. People that are interested in fiction stories that provide insights into other people’s lives and experiences will enjoy this novel.
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Great’ma
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