Deerskin by Robin McKinleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh my, I scarcely know what to say about this book. It's actually not quite 5 stars, but I'd feel bad only giving it four.
It's wrenching, maddening, lyrical, unflinchingly honest in the way of fairy tales, and it's terribly sad. If it weren't for the dogs, I'm not sure I could've read it. I knew it was about a woman who was raped by her father when I bought it. It was on a list compiled by NPR of books about strong women. That's why I bought it. I thought I was prepared for it. I work as a practicing psychotherapist, and have sat in my office with women (and men) who have been through this same thing. I have been enraged before by the way families and society blame the victim in situations like this. And yet when I read it in this book, I was so upset I had to stop reading for a while.
I got up and cleaned my kitchen, walked the dogs, cast around for some light hearted simple minded book to read. Then I decided to pick it up again. I'd put it aside right after the rape and his killing of her beloved dog.
But the dog was not dead. The rest of the book is about her healing, and her recovery, and the way she comes into her own power. It's also about the dog, and then dogs, as she finds her way to the court of the man who'd given her the dog in the first place, and she nurses a litter of puppies whose mother died and she keeps them alive along with herself.
I hadn't read Robin McKinley before, but now will have to look at her other books. I love dogs. :-) And they save this book from being unbearable.
View all my reviews
