Book Review of "Someone" by Alice McDermott is Like A Black & White Movie For Old Souls

Here is my original 250 word Book Review of the lovely, quiet novel "Someone" by Alice McDermott, her seventh novel, heavenly and quaint:

Do we want to be someone from somewhere, rather than nobody from nowhere, or, do we simply want to be someone significant to someone else special to us? What if our first love is, in private, cruel? How do we know about someone else's private life behind the bedroom door, the kitchen door, or beyond the iron gate in the alley, and knowing, can we accept their secret and move on?

Someone Alice McDermott's seventh novel, is like a black and white movie for old souls. Her charmingly quiet story begins back when children were paid a penny to promise to say their prayers and women cleaned their windows with vinegar and newspaper. The author gives us intimate glimpses into her characters' souls through their unspoken eye contact with each other, and the smell of their breath next to each other.

Marie knows her mind and is aware of her flawed looks. Her awkwardness explains why she chooses her first love, her first job and remains inside her beloved Brooklyn neighborhood. Marie's strict Irish Catholic mother, controls every daily facet of family existence inside their tiny apartment. Marie's kind, patient father shares an unspoken secret with Marie. Gabe, Marie's brother studies for the priesthood, but is his faith his someone?

So, treat yourself and a special someone to Someone, and enjoy an evening's leisurely read through the author's melodic prose, and contemplate your Someone.  


As a member of their reader's panel, this review was submitted to Real Simple Magazine in July, and is published on p. 38 of their September issue.