The Unsuitable by Molly PohligMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I've had my eye on this lovely book for a while, and I decided it was time to check it out.
Iseult Wince is a woman like no other. She loves to go for long walks, is used to being ignored by her father, and talks to her dead mother all the time. Her father told her that she's responsible for her mother's death because she died during childbirth, so she lives with this guilt every day and her mother's whispering voice doesn't help. Then she meets Jacob...
This is one odd and twisted little Victorian gothic tale. Iseult looks like she'll become a spinster at twenty-eight but is so preoccupied with the voice inside her head and the pleasure she finds in self-inflicted pain, that she barely notices. Her life is a lonely one lived mostly in her head and in her room.
But when her horrid excuse for a parent (hated her father) is fed up with trying to marry off the weird daughter he clearly doesn't care about, respect, or even tolerates, everything changes. It was so sad, to watch this poor woman go through life like a pincushion who gets verbally abused constantly, from outside and inside her head.
It's heartbreaking to see the constant barrage of disgust flung her way, because she's a bit different and is obviously suffering from mental illness, because of the callous treatment she experiences from everyone. 😥
No one understands her or seem to care, which is why I liked Jacob. The silver man actually seemed like a nice person and listened to everything she said.
The writing style was really cool. In between the third-person narrative in Iseult's POV, there's also the confused and aggressive thought exchange between mother and daughter. It's disorienting and so well done.
I REALLY enjoyed this melancholy tale and the secret, mixed with that ending, totally worked for me because it's messed up. And also very sad.
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