The Spoon Stealer, by Lesley Crewe
20/60 | Started 04.14.23 • Finished 04.26.23 | 3.5 stars
I loved everything about this book up until the last 10 minutes or so. Then the secret shoe dropped and it just didn't need to happen. It made no difference to the story but it took the novel down from "will recommend to everyone" to "decent". Now I can only suggest it to a few people instead of putting it on my list of recommendations.
"Feeling better?"
"Much. How do any of us get through life without friends?"
The novel follows the life story of Emmeline Darling, a rather eccentric woman who grows up in rural Nova Scotia under difficult circumstances and in the midst of two world wars. We meet her later in life when she begins attending a memoir-writing class at her local library. There she befriends some women and makes enemies of others, all the while sharing bit of pieces of her memoir. Her dog, Vera, plays an important part in the narrative, allowing us to hear what Emmeline is thinking and feeling.
What happens to one member of a family sends ripples through the nervous systems of the others. You are not one individual. You are linked to each other. You belong together.
After learning about her early life from these memoir readings, we are taken on a journey through the rest of her life, up until her death. Secrets are revealed throughout as she interacts with her friends and others. There are so many lovely characters. So many fun experiences that made me laugh out loud and events that made me pause. The ending was just completely unnecessary and the story wouldn't have changed a bit without it. I really really wish it hadn't taken the turn it did because it definitely ruined the whole experience for me.
