Blood: A Novel

My ears perk up when I hear the phrase “my favorite book.”

I just can't resist reading a book when I hear it is someone's favorite.

I can easily see the draw of this book. Norrie Blume is involved in a compelling stay-go relationship with a man who has a firm commitment to his wife and children. Norrie also develops two equally compelling relationships with two women, relationships that both satisfy and frustrate her, much like her relationship to the married man. Norrie is an artist; she is able to bring all the joys and difficulties of her life into her paintings. It is fascinating for the reader to watch Norrie paint her joys and difficulties into objects of beauty and horror.

That's what I liked about the book. But there was much I did not like. I found it difficult to believe that after two years of an affair, the wife never caught on. Blood was tossed here and there throughout the story, and was often tossed into places that filled me with revulsion. I never saw the attraction of Norrie to the married man. Despite these qualities, I dove into the book and read page after page, hoping for an ending that would draw everything together. This ending did not happen. The ending was very unsatisfactory to me. Everything was left broken. It was not clear how Norrie finally managed to let go of the boyfriend. It was not clear how Norrie's admirer was finally able to let go of Norrie. The ending felt very jumbled; the ending felt like the author got tired and tried to finish everything up by sewing together all the questions, but not in a way that seemed justified by the story.