You might know me as The Desperate Mom. If you have read my other blog thedesperatemom.blogspot.com (thank you thank you thank you), you know that when I am not being driven stark raving mad by my three children I am an avid reader. If you haven't read my other blog, what is wrong with you? I'm funny. Read it. (Please?) The other day while looking for a new author to capture my interest I came across a list on Goodreads.com (http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/book-club-2013) entitled Popular Book Club 2013 Books. I checked it out. There is a veritable smorgasbord of new authors and classic titles. So I decided to put my voracious book appetite to work and review these new and interesting works of literature. I am going to try to do one a week. We will see how that goes. Remember, I have a family that depends on me. When I am not insane that is...
The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope is written by Rhonda Riley. It is her debut novel. It was one of those books that you can't put down unless it is to throw it against the wall in a fit of rage and despair. It is the story of one woman's life, love, and loss. The beginning of her story is set in the small town of Clarion, North Carolina during the latter part of World War II.
When a book begins with the loss of a beloved family member, it does not bode well for the emotional stability of the main character or the poor soul reading their story. Death indeed comes early for Evelyn Roe. A beloved aunt passes leaving Evelyn to tend to the farm alone. It is the inheritance of the farm that changes her life forever.
During a storm one night she literally unearths a creature. This creature quickly morphs into a mirror image of Evelyn. While this shocks the people in town and closest to Evelyn, they quickly accept a quickly concocted story that the creature, now dubbed Addie, is a long lost relative. Addie and Evelyn settle into life on the farm and with each other. Eventually, the become lovers. (Guys with twin fantasies, this is your book!) I am not sure what it says about Evelyn that she falls in love with a mirror image of herself. Rampant sexual narcissism, maybe? I'm sure Freud would have a field day.
Life goes on. Eventually Addie sees a flaw in their plan. The flaw being that since she is female the two women cannot conceive a child. She she leaves one day and comes back as Adam. At this point I wanted to throw the book up in the air and walk away. The story goes on with Evelyn learning to love this new form of the creature she adores. They marry and have a family. Little half human half whatever-the-hell-it-is babies.
There is more death and tragic loss. The family cuts ties and relocates to Florida. They survive the free love and drugs of the sixties. Evelyn eventually begins to notice that she is aging while Adam remains ever the same. This realization causes no end of emotional upheaval for the couple. The children move away and start families of their own. This leaves the couple with more time to focus on each other and the differences between them. There is spiraling depression and a trip that end in tragedy. Evelyn ends her life with those she loves most and the realization that she was blessed beyond all human understanding.
While I eventually enjoyed the book, there were some details that drove me crazy. How would they have been able to get a marriage license or for Adam to get a driver's license? He had no record of ever existing. He literally came from no where. The ending bothered me most of all. It had this rushed feeling to it. Like the author didn't quite know how to work through the characters' issues so she just kills one of them off. When I finished the book, it wasn't with the sigh of happiness but the rage of emotional trauma from a work of fiction. I smacked the book against the bed next to me a few times. (It was a library book. I didn't want to actually damage it.)
So all in all a good read. I give it 3.5 out of 5. Strange, heart wrenching, and otherworldly.
