Four friends meet weekly at a NYC café to share the trials and joys of motherhood over coffee and bagels. Such is the premise for Meg Wolitzer’s The Ten Year Nap. The story examines the lives and choices of several mothers, who have placed their careers on hold to stay home and raise their kids. The protagonist of Wolitzer’s novel, Amy, studied literature, became a lawyer because it seemed like the right thing to do, married another lawyer and then made the choice to stay home. Sound familiar? You bet. Amy’s situation, of course, resonated with me and compelled me to read further.
Familiarity, however, is not enough. Though Amy’s situation struck several chords with me, I did not grow to love her, or empathize with her. In fact, I found her to be annoying. As I did with many of the other characters. Wolitzer’s women, while complex and self-deprecating, are privileged and whiny. I wanted to love them, feel their angst, laugh hysterically at the way they addressed their guilt, boredom and joy. But I couldn’t. I often struggle with my decision to stay home. But the reality is that I’m too busy and tired to address those emotions in a real way. Perhaps I turned to this book to unravel some of my own confusing feelings.
Life is busy, full and real. These are some of the qualities that are missing from The Ten Year Nap. The heavy, all-consuming love we have for our children leads us to make decisions that would have otherwise been unpredictable. Wolitzer’s well-reviewed novel serves as a fascinating sociological study on the consequences of these choices. The author has a keen eye for detail and is an engaging storyteller. However, in my opinion, she does so without the heartfelt emotion necessary to capture this reader’s heart.
Oh, Amreen, I felt exactly the same way as you when I just read this book. It was our last mommy book club choice and none of us felt anything much more than ambivalence after reading it.
I, too, had expected to laugh and embrace the characters, assuming they were going through similar experiences (although clearly in some other parallel universe) to what I am going through. But, I did not fall in love with any of them, either. After trudging through the first half of it, I was pleased that the second half of the book seemed to pick up a bit. Some of those earlier chapters were really long!
I had high expectations for this book and they, unfortunately, were not met. I don’t know if I could recommend this one to anyone else.
On a more positive note, I’m loving our current book club read, The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. Now this one is engaging!
i have mixed feelings. I think as a sociological perspective piece, it’s well done and multi-faceted. however, when it comes to fully embracing a novel, i need to fall in love with the characters. that didn’t happen here, though i really wanted it to. sorry for not being more definitive! probably worth the read.
Hmmm. Interesting. Sounds like a great and relevant premise but, based on your review I’m not sure. Would you recommend it or give it a pass?