The Natural Way of Things

Charlotte Wood, 2016 Date Read: 3/10/22

This novel is very much the modern love child of A Handmaid's Tale and Lord of the Flies. That's not an insult. I like both of those novels very much.

This was a good novel. Well written, well paced, engaging, shocking at times as a good novel will be. It was also, despite being written six years ago, old. I mean by that, well-worn. Not necessarily clichéd or trite or even derivative. But definitely familiar. You knew, from the first chapter, what was going to happen. You've read this story before.

That said, I can understand why it won so many awards despite being deeply unpleasant to read, at times. Not because the book is bad, but because the writing is so good but the subject is unsettling. Wood writes well enough that you feel uncomfortable as you read. That's really a compliment. The writing sucks you into the story and you can smell the sweat and decay, you can feel the pain and revulsion, you can hear the grinding of teeth and wrenching of sinew. I think, so far, this is perhaps the best written of the List. (Granted I've only read 28 books so far)

Time to read: about a day, it's pretty short

Rereadability: maybe one day - like I said above, it is unsettling

Classic: yes, very much so. In the same genre as the above-mentioned novels or Brave New World (although this is a much better novel)