This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Kay Brooks
Drew Silver once had it all. A beautiful wife, an adoring daughter and a rocking career drumming in a band. Unfortunately, everything Silver touches has a habit of turning sour. Now living in Versailles Complex – famous for housing divorced men who would also describe themselves as losers – while his ex-wife happily arranges her next marriage to a successful doctor, Silver’s career has taken a nose-dive into playing-at-family-celebrations territory. When his daughter gives him the news that she’s pregnant and his ex-wife’s fiancé drops the double bombshell that, unless he has an operation that may or may not be successful, Silver has a very limited lifespan left, he realises it's time to start making amends to those he has let down.
Opening with Silver and his friend on their way to donate sperm for some extra cash immediately suggested that this simply wasn’t going to be the book for me. I prepared myself to endure the sexist jokes and then pass it on to my husband who would probably find it hilarious, but that wasn’t what I got at all. To begin, Silver is cynical and selfish, accepting without question that he’s a failure and everyone either pities him, dislikes him or both. When he realises that his pregnant daughter, Casey, needs him, he decides to try and repair some of the damage he has done before he dies. Part of his journey involves him questioning his own self-worth and whether he should have the potentially life-saving surgery when he doesn’t actually enjoy his life at all. Despite being a very sad character, I found myself warming to the man who is completely unable to voice his thoughts with honesty until his illness takes over. His ailing health eventually sees him becoming much more liberal with his feelings without knowing, often with hilarious and sometimes sweet consequences.
Being written in third person allows the reader to be given perspectives from Silver’s parents, daughter Casey and his ex-wife, Denise, along with other characters that Silver isn’t aware he has any relevance to. Although written very much from a man’s perspective, Silver seems to grow in sensitivity as the book progresses, voicing common fears about loneliness and growing older. It was especially interesting to see how Silver dealt with understanding the women within his life. There was such a difference between his perception of events and theirs. His trying to almost translate their words and actions into a form that made sense to him was fascinating. There were parts that made me laugh and others that made me cry.I know it is a great faux pas to reveal the ending within a review, so I will just say that I would have liked less ambiguity. I found myself genuinely caring about this man who was so sweet beneath the crusty surface and would have liked a few more loose ends to be tied, preferably in a pretty bow!
8/10