DNF Review : Playing House by Fredrica Wagman

Title : Playing House
Author : Fredrica Wagman

Publisher : Zoland Books

Genre : Contemporary Fiction

ISBN : 978-1581952254

Series : Stand Alone

Release Date : May 6, 2008

Rating : 1.5/5 - Couldn't Finish.

Description from Amazon :


When Playing House appeared in 1973, Publishers Weekly hailed it, “A probing descent into madness that will fascinate the same audience that appreciated I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” This nationally bestselling story of one woman’s struggle with the lasting effects of a childhood sexual relationship with her brother shocked American readers; it remains a literary work of enduring quality and value. In his foreword Philip Roth writes, “The traumatized child; the institutionalized wife; the haunting desire; the ghastly business of getting through the day – what is striking about Wagman’s treatment of these contemporary motifs is the voice of longing in which the heroine shamelessly confesses to the incestuous need that is at once her undoing and her only hope.”


Review :

This book was really confusing to me. I usually like to put into my own words what the book is about before I go on to say my feelings about it. I can't do that with this book. The only thing I can tell you is that this book disturbed me a great deal. I've read so many books in my short life, but I've never been as disturbed as I was while reading this one.


This book was written the same way as a previous book that I reviewed by Wagman, The Lie, which was kind of annoying. While the words flow together very easily, and make for a quick read, there is hardly any punctuation at all. I guess it works out well though, because the main character is completely insane. The way that this book is written really makes the main character, the narrator, seem even more insane. I literally had to stop reading this a few times and turn on the TV because I needed some sanity. This is saying a lot, because normally I don't go near a television.


I have read books in the past that feature incest, and while that is by far one of the worst things I have ever read about, this book made it even worse. I used to read a lot of V.C. Andrews' novels, and more often than not her books feature some kind of incest. Most of the time the characters in her books are usually being raped, or don't realize that they are sleeping with someone that is blood related. It was different here, and I think that's why I cringed at every turn of the page. This was consensual incest, and I could't wrap my mind around why someone would do something like that, or even write about it.


I can honestly say that I was going to finish this book, but I just couldn't. At the mere mention of beastiality toward the middle of the novel, I closed it. I couldn't bring myself to read any further. I'm sorry that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did Wagman's previous novel, but my stomach just couldn't handle what it was being served.


I wouldn't recommend this book to a lot of people. If your against incestual relations, beastiality, or high sexual content. I would also highly recommend that religious people not pick up this book, as there is quite a lot of conversation toward a priest where the narrator continuously confesses her sins, and there are many.


Where did I get this book? :

I received this book from FSB Media as compensation for my honest review.