A very postmodern book, if only in its undertones. This was a surprisingly quick read which I devoured in a single afternoon. This engrossing plot features a triangle between three women: a prisoner on Death Row, a doctor, and a librarian. At first, the three narratives seem to be randomly thrown together, but their connection is revealed soon enough. You won't be able to put it down after that.

As a native Texan, I enjoyed the well-researched bits about Huntsville, the prisons, and the death sentence. Texas executes more people than any other state, and middle schools statewide make the field trip / pilgrimage to the Huntsville museum where Old Sparky is retired. From an early age, we learn about the lethal injection and the gruesome details of how exactly an execution-via-electric chair works. I recently went to the museum as an adult and was horrified to see a gift shop t-shirt featuring Old Sparky, with the slogan "Riding Thunder." That is fucked.

Ward is obviously not from Texas, but this fact, obviously, does not take away from the quality of her writing, which is well-researched and written in lovely prose. However, her opinions on the death penalty go against everything most Texans believe. Her characters do not reflect the average Texan. Here, the death penalty is not just a policy, but a part of religion. Just like gun rights.

Ward devalues the death penalty. As in, what good would this woman's death do? What good could come from killing this woman? We look at this woman's life before prison and sympathize with her plight, but Ward seems to be advocating that justice is relative. Her character is a murderer, but she had such a tragic life, surely we can judge the murder in a different life?

The death penalty is not a cruel and unusual punishment... There are many arguments made about its cruelty, but as for unusual, it's definitely not, because we do it! A lot. Especially in Texas. This is a common punishment. Common! If you tip the scales of justice, they must be righted again. Ward questions this sentiment with grace. ( )

Wow. What an absolutely amazing book. I didn't really know what to expect from this book. I got it for Christmas many years ago and never went back to it. Now I am saddened that it took me so long to read this wonderful story.

The three main characters – Karen, Celia, and Franny – were so vivid and relatable. I absolutely loved them. Even the secondary characters had a special place in my heart. Once I picked up this book, I was unable to put it down. Left me crying one moment and then laughing. A story about redemption and forgiveness of one's self and others. Letting go of the past in order to move on with the future. A very heartwarming book that didn't get half the attention it deserved when it came out. Beautifully written. This was the first novel by author Amanda Eyre Ward. I will definitely be looking into reading more of work. ( )

3.5***

Three very different women are connected by an impending execution at the Huntsville Prison in Texas. Karen – “the Highway Honey” – is on death row for the series of murders she committed in an effort to keep her young lover supplied with heroin. Celia is a lost and emotionally drained librarian and widow, whose husband was murdered. Franny left the small Texas town years ago for boarding school, making her life in New York as a doctor. Reeling from the recent death of one of her pediatric patients, she leaves her fiancé behind to return to Texas when her last relative, Uncle Jack, dies suddenly, and winds up taking over his job as prison physician. All three are emotionally disconnected and fragile. The novel spans one hot Texas summer and is told in alternating chapters by each of the three women.

Karen’s background story is obviously based on that of Aileen Wuornos (who was executed in Florida for the robbery/murders she committed there), with very little effort to change the circumstances. She might have been any murderer, why borrow such a recognizable back story? The novel is set in the fictional Gatestown, which is obviously a stand-in for the real Gatesville in which the Mountain View Unit for female Death Row prisoners is actually located. Why bother to change the name if it’s going to be so similar? The book mentions that this is about a 5-hour drive to Hunstville, where the executions actually take place, yet hordes of people show up “for the execution.” This confused me … wouldn’t they go to Huntsville? But enough quibbling over small details; they were distractions, yes, but not major flaws.

This book surprised me. Despite the emotional distance of the three central characters, there was an immediacy to the writing and I found myself completely drawn into their combined story. Their tale of grief, loneliness, longing and forgiveness has a universality about it despite the unique circumstances of each. Karen and her fellow inmates on Death Row try to create some sort of “family” out of their shared experience as they wait for their respective execution dates. Celia stumbles through her days trying to find a way back to life, afraid to hold anyone close again after losing Henry in such a violent and sudden way. She insists she is “fine” and proves it by buying a new bikini (“Isn’t that what normal women do?”), but her therapist feels that she has not really faced her rage yet. Franny is perhaps the most closed-off character and I had a very hard time with her. Of the three, she seems to be the one most damaged, going through the motions and sedating herself with alcohol. Her actions make little sense to me, but I was glad that she was finally able to acknowledge some love and personal connection.

The ending was emotionally charged for the characters, but I felt a little manipulated. The women didn’t seem to understand their own motives and, frankly, neither did I. And I thought the “resolution” was contrived and convenient. Still, this was a pretty good debut effort and I will certainly read more of this author’s works.
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Originally I stayed away from this author becuase I thought she was another Anita Shreve or Carol Goodman.

But I actually couldn't put this book down. It's Ward's first novel, and it has that first-novel cautiously lovely language mixed with first-novel sort of cliche but why the hell not? language. There's a subtle kind of danger in the prose. And the women are not just tough because they choose to have a lot of casual sex and decide not to have children.



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Originally I stayed away from this author becuase I thought she was another Anita Shreve or Carol Goodman.

But I actually couldn't put this book down. It's Ward's first novel, and it has that first-novel cautiously lovely language mixed with first-novel sort of cliche but why the hell not? language. There's a subtle kind of danger in the prose. And the women are not just tough because they choose to have a lot of casual sex and decide not to have children.



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