Cost: A Novel by Roxana Robinson
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Book Reviews of Cost: A Novel
Book Review: A harrowing story of drug addiction...
Summary: 5 Stars
Roxanna Robinson - always a brilliant writer - takes the reader through the devastating emotional effect that heroin addiction brings to an entire family, as well as the physical effects it has on the addict. Not one member of 22- year old Jack's immediate family is spared the damage stemming from his drug addiction. Robinson bases most of the story on Jack, his divorced parents Julia and Wendell, and his older brother, Steven. But, she brings in other family members and some others outside the family, who have been pulled into the problems Jack has created by his addiction.
This is the story of a family - three generations - who have long been separated emotionally by misunderstandings. They are brought together in an attempt to deal with Jack's problems and in the process find some emotional healing with each other.
It is a great read. Robinson is unstinting in describing the family's turmoil and the book doesn't end in a wholly happy way, but it ends the way most things like this probably do end in "real life".
Book Review: brilliantly crafted work
Summary: 5 Stars
For people like myself who love good books and who want to write good books, Cost could easily be an intimidating read. An entire family--three generations--are forced to face the realities they had been avoiding. A family crisis occurs--Jack is addicted to heroin. His parents, divorced but civil, face their own demons. The octogenarian grandparents of Jack are truly fascinating characters by themselves--and how they have approached life is fully developed by Roxana Robinson in scenes that are as close up and intimate as any I have read. She is as brilliant in her art as is another writer who sets her work in Maine--Elizabeth Strout. No reader will be disappointed--overwhelmed at times, probably--but definitely not disappointed.Book Review: Outstanding and absorbing
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow, this one is a slice of life and you will feel like a fly on the wall reading this very realistic book. It has complicated family situations and I had strong feelings for the various characters, both good and bad. Now I want to know what happens to the family AFTER the end of the book...if their dynamics ever changed. Oh yeah, I forgot, this is fiction. Seriously, it is so absorbing that I felt the characters were real. Can't wait to read her other books. By the way, if you loved this, try the book "Need", also a psychological drama about her psychologist and her patients. Very heavy and excellent too.Book Review: Cost
Summary: 5 Stars
As someone who is going through the hell of a son's addiction process, this book was very painful to read. That said, there is much helpful information for those uncertain as to what may or may not be going on in the life of a loved one involved drug usage, as in clues galore for those with little experience in the dark unfamiliar world of heroin. Also, Robinson's characters mirror just about every emotion common to families in this struggle. It lets the most involved readers know that they are not alone in their thoughts, obsession with getting their loved one well. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Book Review: Added to my "All Time Best"list
Summary: 5 Stars
A fascinating read, the book features first person narrative from three generations of the same family reunited in a lovely old cottage on the Maine coast.
The grandparents face inevitable losses that come with old age, including diminished physical capabilities, and the realization of the grandmother's approaching dementia, particularly painful for the grandfather, a former Neurosurgeon.
The parents have emerged from a barely healed divorce and now cope with their heroin addicted adult son, as the son battles painful withdrawal, and all the indignities of an addict's lifestyle.