Spacehopper by Helen Fisher
Tiny Overview
Faye rediscovers her childhood spacehopper box and stands in it to protect her feet from broken glass in the attic. Then she is transported into the 1970's, and she is able to talk to her mother.
Themes:
- Sci - Fi
- Fantasy
- Time travel
- Family
- Faith
- Love
- Lying
- Memory
Context
My Waffling
Faye has two kids and a husband who is training to be a vicar. She has a job helping blind people and this is how she meets her best friend, Louis.
Faye's mother died when she was younger, causing her to be always thinking about her. She does feel guilt around this, as she feels like she shouldn't be longing for her, as she was raised by her nice, elderly neighbours as soon as her mother died.
I know I have labelled it a sci-fi, but that is a stretch. The only way it is is due to the time travelling. But even that was lackluster. I don't really know how you can mess it up. I am not a writer (yet, there's still time for everything) so I know that I am being judgy, but that is the whole reason of this.
I tried out this book from the library, it seemed interesting enough. But I was having to force myself through it after about 25% of the way through. I didn't understand why she didn't tell her husband everything - obviously it's mental, but I would tell my husband. I think it just shows that she trusts her best mate more than her husband. She would rather her husband think that she is cheating than tell him the absurd truth about her old, cardboard box.
Faye spent the whole time explaining, justifying, and repeating herself over and over. For the first time in my life, I had to skip paragraphs. The bonfire night plans were mentioned too repeatedly, that it felt like I was rereading the same sentences over and over. I know that writers and editors do their work in chunks, and obviously these chunks were done separately so no repetition was felt for them. But when you're sat there, finally trying to will your way through the last 50 pages, it was not good.
Her two female friends were so boring I completely forgot about them.
Another fundamental problem I had was that I just didn't like Faye. This is really difficult to cope with if you are her, subjected to her thoughts and her weird actions. She didn't grow or learn, and by the end of it she was then burdened with looking after her mother. What are you supposed to do then? How are you to explain to your kids that their grandmother is younger than their mother? I suppose that's just me being picky.
I think the target audience of this book is middle aged women who want to feel happier with their family lives by contrasting it with a fake one. I am not that.
I felt unfulfilled reading this book. Which is certainly something you don't want to feel.
2/5
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