Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

Mon, 02/27/2017 - 10:47am -- JGranatino

Jenny Offill has created a unique story of a marriage through brief anecdotes over several years. Starting off with a young woman beginning a career, boyfriends, marriage, the birth of a daughter and a betrayal, Offill allows the reader to feel the character's emotions as her thought processes from colicky babies>sleep deprivation>studies on cats with sleep deprivation who went crazy. The title comes from a series of letters postmarked "Dept of Speculation" from wife to husband, a code name between them which describes life's uncertainty. The narrative changes from first person to "the wife" or "the husband" as the story progresses, reflecting a shift or distance as the narrator deals with a painful event. Concise, heartfelt with wry humor, this novel is a gem that resonates after the last page.

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