Sunday Salon: Belong to Me
By Kristen on Aug 3, 2008 in Reviews, The Sunday Salon
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
Release date: 2008 / 390 pages
First line: “My fall from suburban grace, or, more accurately, my failure to achieve the merest molehill of surburban grace from which to fall, began with a dinner party and a perfectly innocent, modestly clever, and only faintly quirky remark about Armand Assante.”
Synopsis (from jacket cover): “A devoted city dweller, Cornelia Brown surprised no one more than herself when she was gripped by the sudden, inescapable desire to leave urban life behind and head for an idyllic suburb. Though she knows she and her beloved husband, Teo, have made the right move, she approaches her new life with trepidation and struggles to forge friendships in her new home.”
Review: I had such high expectations for this novel after recently reading Love Walked In that I couldn’t believe Belong to Me could possibly live up to this. Well, I absolutely loved it. In fact, I picked it up and carried it around until I finished it — brushing my teeth, drying my hair, walking around the house… This novel actually fulfilled Hood’s comment from last week…
De los Santos is an award-winning poet and boy does this make a difference. Her abiding love of diction is palpable, memorable and well-crafted. From the first chapter:
“I had planned to remain an adventurous urbanite, to court energy and unpredictability, and to remain open to blasts of strangeness, ugliness, and edgy beauty for the rest of my life. Instead, as Teo drove ten miles an hour down street after street, it came from everywhere, from the red flags of the mailboxes and the swaths of green lawn, from the orderly flower beds and oxidized copper of the drainpipes: the sound of this sedate, unsurprising place calling me home.”
This woman loves language and I love her for it…
Belong to Me is told through multiple perspectives, just like Love Walked In. We see the neighborhood through the eyes of Cornelia (the narrator of Love), Piper (Cornelia’s “evil” neighbor), and Dev (the thirteen year old son of Cornelia’s friend, Lake). Not only are each of the perspectives interesting and complex, but even more importantly — real.
As I get older, I am finding that the more perspectives the better. So while we are predisposed to dislike Piper for her catty, clique-ish behavior toward our beloved Cornelia, I love the fact that we are forced into her world and grow into empathy and even affection for her.
This novel is as heart-breaking, beautiful and complex as human nature and relationships can’t help but be, and I’m already anxiously anticipating de los Santos’ next masterpiece.
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Hi Kristen - I have this one on my wish list and can’t wait to read it - I’ve heard such good things about it.
Mrs S | Blue Archipelago | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
I love this one, too! And, I absolutely love a book that you like so much that you carry it around the house…I know it’s a good sign when I flip it open while food is warming in the microwave.
jill | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
Yes! I know I’m hooked if I’m reading while cooking, cleaning, or watering my plants!
waiting
Kristen | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
Yes agreed also drawn to multi perspective as I get older as more and more aware that more then one side to a story. Reminds me of an Sufi story.
A judge in a village court had gone on vacation. Nasrudin was asked to be temporary judge for a day. Nasrudin sat on the Judge’s chair with a serious face, gazing around the public and ordered the first case be brought-up for hearing.
“You are right,” said Nasrudin after hearing one side.
“You are right,” he said after hearing the other side.
“But both cannot be right,” said a member of public sitting in the audience.
“You are right, too” said Nasrudin.
My Sunday Salon Post
John | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
I really enjoyed Love Walked In, but I haven’t yet read this sequel. It sounds like I need to run out and get it!! Thanks for the review. I only enjoy different perspectives if the author is adept enough to make the voices different. I like, for the most part, that Marisa de los Santos handles it very well.
Jessica | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
I agree that De Los Santos’s use of language is absolutely wonderful. It made the books so easy to read, and I loved them both up until the twists at the end…to me, it felt like she could have wrapped them up nicely without the soap opera-esque surprise endings…but I still liked them enough to recommend to a few friends because the writing was just so refreshing.
Rebecca @ Readerville | Aug 3, 2008 | Reply
I saw this in the store the other day, and it sounded okay. Now I know I definitely want to read it!
Anna | Aug 4, 2008 | Reply
So true, John! I love that story… That really sums up how I see the world the older I get and the more I read… Thanks for stopping by!
Kristen | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply
@Jessica — Good point! Each of the perspectives need to be fully realized and specific… and enjoyable!
And they are in Belong to Me — I think you’ll really like it!
Kristen | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply
Good point, Rebecca! I was surprised by the ending, too — a bit melodramatic, really…
Kristen | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply
I think you’ll like it!
Kristen | Aug 7, 2008 | Reply
Yay! I loved this book as well! Here’s my review:
http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2008/09/belong-to-me-marisa-de-los-santos.html
S. Krishna | Sep 10, 2008 | Reply