Yes, I Liked: The Change

2022's beach read #1 for newsletter #74

Welcome to what I think is my first confident beach read recommendation of 2022 - The Change, which is basically anywhere and everywhere in the book social media community right now. (Have you seen this book on the interwebs yet, or do you have an actual rich life you live?)

Shall we talk about it?

Sure, let’s talk about it. What’s it about?

Three women in a coastal Long Island town all start to feel unusually empowered in different, inexplicable, supernatural ways by their midlife changes. One of them, Nessa, starts to hear voices of the dead, leading the three women discover the body of a teenage girl. The local police write her off as an addict, but the women decide to use their powers to bring justice to the girl and their community.

Hold up. Didn’t you just write about mysteries? How about a little book variety?

Fine, yes, I sure did, but who appointed you the newsletter monitor? I didn’t intend to write about another mystery so soon but I just read The Change this week and I feel utterly compelled to tell you about it. It would be literary newsletter malpractice not to share! (But if you really hate mysteries and/or beach reads, bless your heart, there are plenty of Substantive Reads to be found in the archive.)

OK fine. Compare it to something else.

It’s like The Power with menopausal women, but less cutthroat and more satisfying justice?

It’s like Practical Magic but as a mystery thriller?

It’s like the movie Nine to Five, but with inexplicable semi-magical powers, more crime, and fewer jokes?

I’ve also seen it compared to Big Little Lies meets Witches of Eastwick, which fits too.

Why do you like it?

First of all, it’s a fun thriller - building dread, a fast pace, memorable characters (more on that in a minute) and an interesting voice. So, worth reading on that level alone!

And how often do we have menopausal women as the heroines, particularly a plot that does not particularly revolve around their identities as mothers? (Though that does come into play.) Or even as “good people,” whatever that means. And the book doesn’t skirt around the topic of “the change,” obviously, or talk about living nobly with the burden - instead, the rage and the heat and the disappointment and the growth and the appeal and the wisdom that come with age are superpowers (also seen in the, you know, actual superpowers.) As one character is told, “After the curse, comes the gift.” It’s a fresh take and a book I didn’t even know I wanted until I had it.

I also appreciated the blend of modern settings and this magical realism that binds these women together. It takes a typical thriller or typical personal growth novel and bumps it up an imaginative and fun notch. Plus, a sprinkling of sly humor amps up the readability even more.

And lastly, there were a lot of symbolic strands throughout, from the naming to the garden to the recurring whale. As I recently learned from a podcast, humans and whales are the only mammals whose females live past their fertility window, with the theory that post-fertility females provide a key source of wisdom for the species. (Whales! who knew! I mean, I guess Kirsten Miller obviously did!) There’s clearly a lot of folklore, cultural tradition and archetypal theory running through this thriller that gives it added substance.

There must be things you didn’t like about it.

Why are you so cynical, imaginary dialogue partner? But - sure. It’s not a perfect-perfect mystery; there are a few things that I felt were obviously telegraphed, and a some conversations or plot points that were just so terribly convenient. The clever appeal of this book does not derive from the intricate crime.

Also, while there are male characters who are not villains, many of them kind of are, often in an undeveloped way or as an obvious means of moving the plot forward.

But don’t overthink it! For a beach read, for a thriller, it does the job.

Will I like it if I’m a guy?

Who can say for sure? I don’t know your life, my man. What I can say is that I think that so much of reading is about empathy and understanding and perspective shift, and in some ways, the very point of this book is that everyone wants to look away from older women. And again - I cannot stress this enough - fun beach read!

The big question - how many lambs is this book?

Ugh, the eternal conundrum of gentle lamb ratings for a murder mystery. While the descriptions are not gory, explicit or exploitive, there are killings, and crimes against young women and girls. So I’m going to say it’s a 2.5 lamber, for those triggers.

Okay, I’ll consider it, good talk.

Good talk! Let me know if/when you’ve read it, I’m eager to talk about it!

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