Cynthia's Reviews > The Unmothers

I can’t say that The Unmothers met my expectations because this story wasn’t anything I had expected it to be. There is so much to appreciate in what it was, though.

In fact, it was almost a perfect read for me. The author takes a rather subtle route in depicting female rage, quietly examining the way men have harmed women, the way that even the best of them can make choices that indelibly scar the females they encounter. It becomes more apparent as the story deepens, but I wouldn’t say it was ever explosive. I like this, though. I like a message that discreetly reveals itself, and I like obscurely meaningful content I can carefully chew away at.

While this falls into the folk horror category, the horror is not an ever present aspect. For a while, I was unsure how forcefully it would surface. Even the folklore of this subgenre seemed mostly dormant as we get to know the characters early on. Of course, there is this suspicious horse birthing a human story, but even the townspeople cast a shadow of doubt upon it. I’d wondered if I’d misunderstood the synopsis, but eventually the characters gave voice to a belief passed down from generation to generation, and this lore began to shine a light upon the way women are able to reclaim their bodies.

I wouldn’t call the horror unsettling, though, and I do not mean that in a critical way. There are some grisly murders, but we are privy only to the aftermath, rather than spectators in the hunt and kill. These scenes, I suspect, are more likely to produce sadness than fear. I also think we have enough information near the end to understand what needs to happen for the looming horror to abate, so it proves to be more suspenseful than scary. The core of its terror is the very knowledge that women are left behind too often to deal with the irresponsibility of men (and I do not mean all men, which is even clear in the text). This is something that will be painfully familiar for many ladies, and that will be the component that haunts them as readers.

My only complaint regarding Anderson’s vagueness is that I never felt I fully understood Emma’s connection to John Daily, or why he foolishly took a certain matter into his own hands. I think, particularly in reference to their connection, that more development here would have helped the potency of the message. Of course I could see that he was not a good man - essentially the human representation of an all consuming monster. I could also see what needed to happen to save the town. But I couldn’t quite feel what lurked in Emma’s heart, nor could I fully grasp why. Knowing he was awful wasn’t enough, as I wanted something demonstrated on a more personal level between them.

The Unmothers hits hard emotionally, and it does challenge the reader to think about what they’re being shown. These aspects mean so much to me in a book, and they are always my preference. Perhaps if I ever revisit this, I’ll see things differently, in terms of Daily’s relationship with Emma. This is the type of book that conceals nuggets for rediscovery, so I think it is an excellent option for discussion.

I am now a fan of Anderson’s writing. I’d like to read her previously published poetry and I have faith that her storytelling ability will only flourish with her next novel.

4.5 stars