Stranger, Father, Beloved

Detached. After I finished reading Taylor Larsen’s debut novel titled, Stranger, Father, Beloved, I felt like I needed some sort of cleansing. I had spent hours with a toxic set of characters, in strained relationships and I needed to wash them away from my life. Larsen’s prose is finely crafted, and her immersion into a family experiencing alienation and grappling with mental illness made for some intense reading. I didn’t find that the intensity led to depth. The characters seemed so consistent from the beginning of the novel to the end that I didn’t experience their development or complexity. The whole cast of characters would benefit from therapy, either as individuals or in groups. While the novel captures elements of the alienation experienced by many individuals in contemporary society, I longed for some direction in the plot other than the course set from the beginning. Readers who enjoy literary fiction and are always looking for promising new authors are those most likely to enjoy reading this novel. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase Stranger, Father, Beloved from amazon.com.