Fiona Range

Author:

Mary McGarry Morris was born in Connecticut and raised in Vermont. Keeping with her east coast roots, she attended the University of Vermont and the University of Massachusetts/Amherst and she still lives by the shore in Massachusetts. She has published eight novels since 1988 and many have been nominated or won awards such as the National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner Award and her second novel, A Dangerous Woman, was turned into a major motion picture.

Learn More about Mary McGarry Morris

Let's also take a moment to appreciate the cover art.

Three words to describe this read:

Emphatic- Fiona Range's flaws and family issues were pointed out over, and over, and over again. While I sincerely did enjoy the book and the plot, the establishment of her character and placement in her family did start to feel a little repetitive.

Rushed- The end of the book was satisfying but very quick. If you’re one of those readers that skips a page from time to time, I would not suggest that for this book if you’re interested in understanding the resolution.

Dramatic- The main character embodies this word. She’s impulsive, hot-tempered, and loud which all makes for a story that’s difficult to put down and at times difficult to swallow.

Quote:

“She stared at the diffusion of light on the windowshade. Beyond a distant affection she felt nothing. Nothing but complete self-disgust. She was a fool. Her days had been wasted in empty places, her energy spent on troubled people who could never love her.”

I chose this quote because it mixes Fiona’s dramatic character with Morris's eloquent writing. It takes special skills to make self-pity and despair sound so lovely and I appreciate that Morris is able to accurately describe even these very low points of emotion.