Sitting Practice by Caroline Adderson

Lately I've been relying mostly on recommendations and fellow book bloggers reviews before I pick up a book to read. But I happened to come across this one in the library and thought that both the cover and the premise were quite intriguing. It didn't take me long to become completely absorbed in the character's situations and emotions, and as much as I really wanted to like this book, it left a sour taste in my mouth by the end.

I was pretty bummed out by how crass the author would get with the language, it is just is a total turnoff to me when foul language is used too often. To be honest, the F word is not romantic in any way whatsoever. Any even apart from that, I really started to care about this newlywed couple who had suffered such a tragedy, and the way it ended was so dissatisfying! Sure you might say, well life doesn't always include a happy ending, but at least leave the reader with some hope, or a silver lining. The book jumped around so much between the past & present that I didn't really understand the point of it. Every time there was a flashback to their wedding, I thought, yes - because that was this all comes down to, their committment to one another. But no, not really, I guess it was more to talk about his catering?

I was left with this pit in my stomach and thought, yuck. And I'll just leave it at that.

Description: It only takes a moment for your life to be changed forever—as the characters of this darkly comic novel discover early on. The fateful moment for the newlyweds Ross and Iliana comes with the freak automobile accident that leaves Iliana paralyzed, Ross grief-stricken, and both of them struggling to come to terms with a married life nothing like they originally had in mind. As the usually affable Ross struggles with guilt and with finding ways to cope with his newly fractured life, Iliana gets used to her unwelcome existence as a wheelchair-bound wife, to her husband’s growing sense of alienation, and to their awkward new lack of intimacy.

What ultimately happens with Ross and Iliana is as unexpected and surprising as the fateful mishap that sets the events in motion in the first place. Sitting Practice is a clever and insightful study of love’s collision with harsh reality, told by an author with a remarkable instinct for the workings of human nature, a nimble gift for language, and the ability to find humor in the oddest places.



Recommend: Nope

Rating: **