Author: Jacqueline Harpman
Date Read: February 2025
Rating: 5/5
I read this during the first few days of my knee surgery recovery. I couldn’t put it down.
The book explores what it means to be human when most of what we know - love, hope, purpose, society - is stripped away. It explores these themes through the eyes of the protagonist simply known as “the child”.
I loved this book - it was dark, dystopian, and gripping. Despite how simple the plot was, it kept me guessing and thinking from page to page. It was so easy to be in the child’s shoes, living her experience, so foreign from my own. She doesn’t know where she came from or even how old she is. Her world is void of thoughts, ideas, and actions. It’s almost impossible for her to imagine the lives which her cellmates occassionally tell her about before they ended up in prison. And through this void, the author does an incredible job of reminding us how special even the most mundane things in our lives can be. Each of our lives, no matter how tedious or boring we may think they are, are unique and full of wonder.
I finished this book with a greater appreciation for my life and all that it is filled with.