I have mixed feelings about this book. First the positive: I loved the sections about Delia's love of reading. Debra Adelaide is at her best when writing about reading. These are the passages I marked and dogeared. And I liked them enough to make up for all the things I didn't like about this book.What I didn't care for: The narrative skips around to about 3 different stages of Delia's life with no helpful hints as to which time period you are reading. This got really confusing the farther I got into the book and it was irritating to be several pages into a chapter thinking you were reading about Delia the happily married lady to realize you were reading about Delia the young single mother. This could have been avoided with simple chapter headings indicating the time.
Another issue I had with this book is how depressingly sad it was. I knew I was getting into heavy subject matter but I think I was hoping more for the "life-affirming" feelings promised on the cover blurb. I was not in the right mood for so much sadness.
And then there is the whole making blood sausages with your OWN BLOOD for your family to eat after you die. You know so they can feel your love... through your blood. And that's right you weren't planning to tell them about this. They could just innocently eat sausage that their dead mom left in the freezer unaware that they were really dining on her blood. I really don't have words for that kind of weirdness.
But it does sum up why I didn't really like Delia or relate to her. The fact that this idea sounded like a good one to her is enough to illustrate why I don't get her.
