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Book Reviews Title Jewel Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story In the backwoods
of Mississippi, Jewel and her husband Leston are
blessed with five healthy children. All this
changes with the birth of Brenda Kay in 1943. This
is the story of a woman's devotion to a child who
is both her burden and her blessing. We
Say Bret Lott's novel
'Jewel' is an Oprah's Book Club selection and for
some, that means the book doesn't need an
introduction. Now I have to admit, I have liked all
of the books that I have read from Oprah's
selections, and I liked this one. Like, is the key
word. I didn't love this book, but I did enjoy it.
One review states that this is a book about a
"mother-daughter relationship of matchless
intensity and beauty". I have to disagree a little.
While Lott does create a relationship between Jewel
and Brenda Kay that is intense and believable, this
book is also about the relationship a mother has
with her family when one child is physically and/or
emotionally damaged. No matter how a
person looks at it, a child with special needs can
be difficult for an entire family. In this
particular novel, the arrival of Brenda Kay brings
on change that the family is unprepared for. Jewel
forces her husband to make changes that he does not
want to make and in doing so, supersedes his
authority as the 'man of the house'. The battle
between Jewel and her husband becomes intensified
after the arrival of Brenda Kay, since Jewel will
stop at nothing to protect and provide for her
daughter. This is a formidable task since most
children born with disabilities like Brenda Kay's
were institutionalized during this time period.
Jewel is an excellent mother to Brenda Kay, but at
what cost? When we look at
the other children in the family it is hard not to
feel sorry for them. We have all experienced a time
when one or both of our parents have not been
available for some reason or another, and it is
only natural to resent it. The siblings that Lott
creates seem so far removed from the situation that
it is difficult to imagine that they are part of
the family. We don't hear the siblings fight about
the pressures or responsibilities that are brought
on by the stress of caring for Brenda Kay,
unrealistic in my opinion. At certain moments,
Jewel will recognize her own short comings as a
parent to her other children when she looks at one
of them, but she pushes that guilt to the back of
her mind. None of the children ever challenge Jewel
or berate her for her complete commitment to Brenda
Kay. True, this is a novel about Jewel and her
relationship with Brenda Kay but her other children
have a direct if not immediate impact on that
relationship. Perhaps that is the beauty of this
novel. Jewel is so blinded by her devotion to
Brenda Kay that all else fades into the
background. Overall, Lott
does a good job of showing us how Jewel is feeling
about Brenda Kay. Brenda Kay is Jewel's burden and
gift depending on how she feels about the given
situation. While it is a powerful novel, especially
in light of the fact that it takes place during a
time when there was little support for families
with special needs children, I still felt that
there was something missing between the interaction
of the various family members. Lott's character,
Jewel, does leave us with a feeling of well being
because we all know that there are women out there
that will rise to the challenges of life and we are
all the better for their presence. Review by: Yumi
Nagasaki-Taylor |
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