Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker

Madwoman PDF by Chelsea Bieker is an intriguing story with good themes but I called every twist before it happened.

Madwoman is the story of Clove, a married mother of two who is hiding secrets from her past. One day in the post office she receives a letter from her mother and the past comes roaring back.

The reason I liked Madwoman book was because there was a lot I could identify with as a mother. I felt like I deeply understood Clove’s desire for everything to be better and more perfect than her own life growing up.

The writing in the book is strong, giving the reader a real sense of Clove’s trauma and how it affects every choice she makes in life. She’s not an extremely likable character–she makes poor choices and decisions, but even so, she is quite relatable because it is an innate thing as a mother to try to create the best possible outcome for your children.

What I didn’t like was that I found all of the twists to be incredibly predictable. And since the story could have been an impactful and moving tale of overcoming domestic abuse, the twists seemed forced and way too convenient to propel the story in a believable way. I wanted to be more surprised than I was. The pacing is also very slow. We know from the beginning that Clove has secrets about her past, but the story of what happened is doled out very slowly and causes the narrative to drag.

That said, the ending is good and left me with a positive feeling. I’m glad I read Madwoman book, but if you’re going to read it realize that it does have some flaws, particularly with pacing.

About Madwoman PDF