Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Is it ‘the more things change, the more they remain the same’? That’s how I felt about Victoria Brown’s Minding Ben, a novel that my friend received an ARE of and, when she stepped back from blogging, passed on to me. First picture Anne Bronte’s Agnes Grey. (Haven’t read it? I’ll save you the trouble–being a governess in the 19th century sucks. That pretty much sums up the book.) Then add in a few 19th century novels about the urban poor, racism, classism, and gender politics. Top it off with a dash of A Tale of Two Cities–the uncaring rich bit–and set it all in 1989. Make your governess a West Indian babysitter (her preferred term), add way more F-words than I ever want to experience, and you’ve got Minding Ben in a nutshell. Is it interesting? Disturbingly so. Is it compelling? Painfully. Does it make you think about all of the things it’s talking about? Absolutely. Is it enjoyable to read? Unfortunately, less so for me. I couldn’t situationally identify with any of the characters, and while the West Indian accents were beautifully done and immeasurably enriched the audio version I experienced, the F-words did quite the opposite. Whether or not you opt to read it is your call, depending on whether the idea appeals.

I’m passing my copy on.