Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Remember the 70's television comedy called Good Times? It seemed good things rarely happened to the Evans family and you frequently found yourself wishing for something great to happen that would whisk them out of their unfortunate existence. Well, The Darkest Child is like the literary equivalent of Good Times, except this story takes place in a house on Penyon Road, somewhere in the state of Georgia during the late 50's. And this time the sorrows and afflictions experienced by the family comes at the hand of the mother, Rosie, a woman who inflicted so much abuse on her ten kids that you cannot keep up.
The story is narrated by Tangy Mae, a fifteen year-old woman/child that the mother labels as ugly. The mother sleeps with men, chain smokes, drinks, cries, yells, and does all kinds of unusual and disturbing things that make the reader feel sorry for the kids and wonder about their eventual outcome.
The Darkest Child's strength lies in its commanding writing voice and vivid descriptions. Some of the painful scenes make you physically react, as if you're being abused instead of the children.
The worst thing about the book is there are far too many characters; you may not feel attached to each of them or remember which one is which, but the story is still compelling enough to keep you drawn to the characters' dilemma. In addition it would have been great if the mother's behavior was explained so the reader could know her motivations behind her horrendous actions.
This book is highly recommended because of its originality, excellent writing, and unpredictability, and because, as far as I know, there aren't too many books that can be compared to The Darkest Child. It is an engaging and dark read that won't be soon forgotten.
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