What readers think of Women and Children First, plus links to write your own review.

Grabowski's novel unpacks the events surrounding the sudden death of a teen in a small depressed MA town. The story is told through the voices of 10 women - young and old, who are adjacent to, part of, on the periphery, or deeply impacted by the young girl's death. The storytelling is circular - the individual narratives dip in and out of time, going backwards and forwards, moving the plot along while also retelling certain events from different perspectives.

There is nothing rudimentary about the very modern tragic story that Grabowski novel unspools, yet it is also a tale as old as time - young girls on the cusp of womanhood, older women reflecting back on their youth. Throughout, I wanted the girls to listen more to the mothers and the mothers to listen more their daughters! Highly recommend for lovers of women-first literary fiction.

The story is told from the point of view of ten different women who knew the dead girl. I was impressed by the way the author established each character's unique voice while simultaneously weaving each character into the bigger picture. I also noticed that while all these women (and girls) lived in the same time, they were all dealing with their individual struggles in isolation. Even characters who were supposedly best friends privately felt resentment and envy towards the each other. This is not a feminist story about the power of female friendship and solidarity. Instead this is a story about how women from all classes and all ages are struggling, often alone, to meet the economic, social and cultural expectations placed on them.

The story is unique in how it is told.
It is confusing in how it is told.
It may be brilliant, or simply a mess.
Not sure how to rate this. For now, AVERAGE.
Perhaps I'll re-read this then move up or down.