Book Review THE FIFTH CHAMBER Anne Gudger

Thank you to the author Anne Gudger, publishers Jaded Ibis Press, and Get Red PR Books, for an advance paperback copy of THE FIFTHCHAMBER. All views are mine.



Opening quote: Field Guide to Christmas Grief: ...27.Find 12 flattish round rocks and nestle them at the base of your blue tree. Gifts. Moons. One for each month you've kept you and your boy alive. Write words on the bottom of the rocks, where they're hidden, where they're just for you. p106

Three (or more) things I loved:

1. Sometimes the way she cuts time is incredible, like the transition from the bottom of p55 to the top of p56. The narrative moves from a very visceral first person account of a near drowning directly to the panic that narrator feels when going to grief therapy for the first time after her husband died. 

2. The headache descriptions are so accurate and I felt connection with the narrator because of this trait. I too get terrible headaches, and I wondered while reading what the pain descriptions were trying to tell me about the character, Anne Gudger. I did some research on headaches to see what kind they might be, which is when I began to feel such a connection with the narrator. Also, these headaches might foreshadow something for our first person narrator!

3. Often, tge writing in this book is downright poetic. For example, the chapter entitled A Field Guide to Christmas Grief on p104 has gorgeous form; it's almost a list poem.

4. These descriptions are just stunning: You made it, she said. Dark eyes bursting with light. Her one dimple. Black hair. Cherry red lips. Snow White sister. Got-your-back sister. I'm-right-here sister. p110

5. I love how Gudger writes about grief: You don't get over grief. It's not the flu. Your heart grows around your grief. Your heart fills in the cracks... You become your own kintsugi piece. p117

6. I love that this book acknowledges that healing goes deep into our habits and past. We can't just heal from today's trauma, but our lifetime of trauma. When you're told you're fine on repeat, the truth of not-fineness burrows into your folds. When you grow up with silence and hurts, you think you deserve brokenness. p121

7. Gudger is just brilliant with the details. ...[H]e told me about his dad's sudden cancer death, how he died while Scot was driving to the hospital. How Scot drove his dad's empty shoes home. p143

Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. When referring to Kent, the author and narrator's deceased husband, the narrator sometimes uses third person, and sometimes uses second. Both styles are quite successful, but I wish the author had chosen only one of them. Using both with little transition causes some clarity issues.

2. This book is very stylish, which I like, with the poetic prose, short chapter, frequently shifting timeline. However, it's all a bit distracting from the narrative, which honestly is a bit difficult to follow or even ferret out in some places. But at some point, this book really gains a sense of its own story: All good stories have a turning point....The truth is a big turn came ehrn I bought new jeans. How could such a hard story have such a fluff turn? It did. It does. p125 Again, this book is so stylish. It something else, really, Gudger is one talented writer.

3. I actually think the resolution of this book went on a little long. Chapters about the author's grandmother, and even some about her son as an adult dragged on for me. The nuggets that existed in these passages I thought would have fit better in earlier passages.

Ratings (Memoir):
Style 5
Voice 4.75
Themes 4.8
Narrative 4.5
Organization 4
Overall Rating 4.61 rounded to 5

Recommend? Absolutely, yes!
Date finished: August 25 2023
Format: Advance paperback, Get Red PR Books

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