Book Review: An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg

Last month's book club selection was An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg. I probably don't need to tell you that I wasn't looking forward to a novel involving ranch life or cow milking, which was how I had it pinned (those two subjects are like fast acting Ambien). That J-Lo was in the film adaptation didn't salve, either. So imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a well crafted domestic violence drama that holds true to that phenomena's patterns and internal struggles. Spragg's view into that maligned relationship was revelatory. Deftly flipping from an insightful and heartbreaking child's view of her mother's patterns, to the opposite, in Roy's distance from his own behavior and delusions of kindness.

The author reiterates the causes and cyclical nature of alcoholism and domestic violence in a way that is never preachy. The realizations seem to spring naturally from this beautiful prose that while spare is oftentimes poetic.

I loved it, not enough to sit through the film, but enough to recommend it.

Next Book: Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez (I'm a fanboy over it, already and I'm not even halfway through)