Mona Simpson's "Commitment" explores intricate family dynamics, though it failed to fully captivate me. Despite my affinity for stories centred around familial relationships, this narrative struggled to wholly immerse me in its characters or overarching plot. While Simpson's prose is undoubtedly well-crafted, the emotional depth I anticipated fell somewhat short of my expectations. The book grapples with compelling themes, yet its execution couldn't quite transcend a sense of detachment, leaving me wishing for a more profound connection to the turbulent lives portrayed. A respectable effort, but one that didn't entirely resonate with my tastes.

This was floral writing at its finest and therefore sometimes quite hard to follow which was a shame as I was very excited to read this book.

While I typically find myself drawn to family dynamic plots, I must admit that my expectations for this particular story fell short. Despite my initial hopes, I found it difficult to fully immerse myself in the characters or the overall narrative.

Really wanted to lie this as I love family dynamic stories normally, but unfortunately I couldn't connect to the children or the narrative fully.

Essentially, this is this coming-of-age story of an American family whose mother is affected by severe mental illness in the 1970s . I hadmade an assumption reading a book book blurb that the novel was focusing on the mentally ill mother in the story, I was wrong, however, as although she is central to the storylines, the novel follows the children of this lady as they grow up from all the teenage life through to their 30s.

The children are at different stages in their lives when the mother becomes unwell and is admitted to a mental hospital for what was initially assumed to be a short stay. The short stay goes on and on and ultimately she spends her life there in one of the old style large mental hospitals were largely closed down in the 1980s.

The novel follows the lives of the three children effectively orphaned by their mothers incarceration and , coming to terms with their family history and shows how this has affected their lives in the long term .
It’s a long novel, and I did feel that it Drags a bit at the2/3 mark however, I stayed with it and was glad that I have finished the novel .
The author has very distinctive writing voice and the novel is an enjoyable read
Another word appeal to those who, like character leads stories, I felt her writing was similar to that of Hanaah Yamagihara A little life although this novel is by no means as traumatic a read.
I read an copy On NetGalley, UK the book is published in the UK on the 6th of July 2023 by Little Brown book group.
This review will appear on NetGalley, UK, good reads and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com

Mona Simpson never disappoints, and this grandly-sweeping narrative lives up to its ambitious scope. I do hope it does well (she always feels to me like a novelist who's never *quite* achieved the acclaim she deserves).

Commitment is an interesting story following three very different, but tight-knit children of a mentally ill mother and absent father. I generally enjoy this type of family chronicle and this wasn’t an exception, but I did want to highlight some pros and cons for future readers.

For me the biggest pro is the development of the characters, they fell like real people living realistic and flawed lives. What does and doesn’t work out for them doesn’t feel forced in any way. Another huge pro is the evolution of the story flipping from one sibling to the next so we get the full picture of all their lives. That lends a great richness to the story that I found enjoyable to read.

For the cons, the biggest is definitely the length and the style of the prose. It often feels like the author is meandering instead of getting to the point. There are several full storylines that felt unnecessary to the plot and relatively uninteresting compared to other details. This made it difficult to tell what’s important or not and made for overall a slow read. I think there is something unique about the prose though which isn’t always a bad thing. However, when it’s both difficult to tell what is important and 400 pages long it does become a little challenging to stick with. Usually I read books in one to two days and this took me two weeks to read because it didn’t hold my attention as much.

Overall, I liked the juxtaposition of the literal commitment of the mother to a mental institution with the commitments of all the kids to their mother, partners, siblings, and other people within the book. It’s a book that hangs in the air and makes you think a bit after it’s done. For those reason, I’ll give it a 3/5 stars. I think there’s a lot of potential in a similar type of story in a less wordy delivery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!

📖 FROM THE COVER

When Diane Aziz drives her oldest son, Walter, from LA to college, it will be her last parental act before falling into a deep depression. A single mother who believes that her children can attain all the things she hasn't, she's worked hard to secure their future. But when she enters hospital, her closest friend must keep the children safe and their mother's dreams for them alive.

At Berkeley College, Walter discovers a passion for architecture just as he realises his life as a student may end for lack of funds. Back home in LA, his sister Lina works in an ice-cream parlour while her wealthy classmates prepare for Ivy league schools, as she wages a high-stakes gamble to go there with them. And Donny, the little brother everybody loves, begins to drift towards a life on the beach, where he falls into an escalating relationship with drugs.

A resonant story about family, duty, and the attendant struggles that come when a parent falls ill, it honours the spirit of imperfect mothers, and the under-chronicled significance of friends.

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is book told over a period time from 3 characters POV in the third person, the characters are the three siblings Walter, Lina and Donnie. It swings between all three all though I did feel the first part focused on Walter, who is a bit of a.hole, the second Lina, whom I loved without doubt the best character in the novel, and the last part more a focus on Donnie.

I found the writing style quite strange, it was almost memoir in style. The layout wasn’t for me it jumped around too much and it didn’t flow. I found it awkward at times, I found that the story sometimes lost focus, I found the historical references really awakened and just dropped in randomly. The plot whist was good as it examines the class system in America, mental health and the broken American dream it becomes hard to follow with all the jumping about and not relevant sub plots. It also lacks background and clarity in parts. It could have been so good as the characters were strong and well written.

I found I was left thinking about this book after reading, it was sad and hard going but it was a book of hope and I enjoyed the ending.

I give it three stars it would have been more but I had real issues with writers style of writing. Was good but could have been great.

I think it will win prizes and perhaps make a good Netflix series.

Thank you for ARC

Thank you to @netgalley for allowing me to review ‘Commitment’ by Mona Simpson.

For me I had to give it a one star, as a deaf person the grammar in this book was confusing. I also hated how it jumped from one part to another without ending the part to help understanding what is happening. I have read all the way through hoping it would improve but not for me.

Although, I am only sharing my opinion in honest way, other people may enjoy it.

The effects of mental health of a parent in a family Dinamic. And all the trauma and effects that have in the other members. The book is long enough to make you create empathy for the family members and the character development was a bit tricky for me. The prose style was difficult for me, I think the author lose a bit the sense of transmite the emotions at some point and became a bit flat. The execution of the book in the end seems a bit messy for me. But I enjoy some parts of the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity of access this ARC. I just reviewed Commitment by Mona Simpson. #Commitment #NetGalley

Commitment by Mona Simpson feels like taking a walk in the park in the dead of winter. At first, all you experience is a bone chilling cold and sadness, but as you look/feel closer and continue walking you start to notice the beauty in it

(received an arc courtesy netgalley in exchange for a fair review)

Commitment by Mona Simpson is about family and in particular sibling dynamics and the impact of a parent suffering from mental health problems. I preferred the sections that were about the daughter/sister Lina and wanted to get back to those when the story changed to other points of view.

This is the kind of historical fiction I love of a family. The book is long enough to delve into a family in depth, so that you can see how small decisions shape a life.