So, I went to my new book club this month. It was amazing. Lucky though, because my other one has now broken up. Some women just have to cause trouble! Anyway, I love my new group and we talked about last months book for ages. I was so pleased. Yes there was the obligatory exchange of the latest gossip, but in small doses it's harmless, right?
The book chosen for the next meeting is the above mentioned Matilda is Missing. Basically it's a battle between a feuding couple for full custody of their daughter, Matilda. When a family court judge dies of cancer, he leaves all the files for this case to an old friend, Barry. Before he died he told him that he may have made a terrible mistake in the ruling of the case and needed his help to rectify it. Once the judge dies, Barry is left to sift through the mountains of paper work to figure out exactly what the judge was talking about. The story of Garry and Softie (yes, Softie) is told mainly through recordings of their sessions with a psychologist. We learn how each of them viewed the relationship and how each of them resented the other for different reasons. Towards the end it is then made apparent what mistake the judge had made.
This novel frustrated me to no end! But, that was the point. Up until about three quarters of the way into the book I kept asking myself: 'What about Matilda?'. There is hardly any mention of her or her welfare by Garry or Softie. It shows just how selfish parents can be when a marriage dissolves. Apart from that frustration, I did love the book. The character of Softie was great in that the author got me to despise her and I eventually warmed to Garry and his bogan ways. It was Garry in the end who I felt actually cared more about his daughter than himself, something that I thought was a given as a parent.
It was another easy read and I really enjoyed it. The next book for book club is The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. It gets rubbish reviews online. Fingers crossed I disagree.
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