Book Review - Molly Fox's Birthday

After getting home from a nice dinner out last night (more on that later) I finished Molly Fox's Birthday, by Deirdre Madden. I had a little trouble getting started on this one for whatever reason, but I am glad I kept at it, as I enjoyed it thoroughly once I got some momentum going. The novel is told from the perspective of a 40-ish woman playwright who is staying at her friend's house while the friend is away. The entire novel takes place over the course of one day, the birthday of the friend, Molly Fox, who is a famous stage actress. It is constructed of memories and reflections interwoven with events over the course of the day, and is really a character study of the narrator, Molly Fox, and their friend Andrew. It is a thoughtful and perceptive look into the lives of the three main characters and is a very worthwhile low-key read.

I found myself tagging more pages than I generally do. Here are a few passages...

"...And in spite of all this I believed that Andrew could be happy with her, because as Molly says, we all do get what we really want in life. We make a point of it, although sometimes we choose not to own it. Andrew wanted to be the adorer, not the adored; in any relationship he wanted to worship. Sometimes what we want is not in our own best interests. Sometimes we hunger for our own destruction." [p. 82]

"Meeting her had been a dispiriting experience, as it can so often be when one meets old friends. The initial delight, the sense of connection, and then the distancing, the unravelling of that connection as information is exchanged and it becomes clear why one hasn't stayed in touch. Defensiveness sets in, and it all ends in melancholy when one is alone again." [p. 106]

"The closer you get to Molly, the more she seems to recede. Sometimes she seems like a figure in a painting, the true likeness of a woman, but as you approach the canvas the image breaks up, becomes fragmented into the colors, the brushstrokes and the daubs of paint from which the thing itself is constructed. Only by withdrawing can the illusion be effected again." [p. 126]

"Friendship is more tragic than love. It lasts longer." [p. 175]

4.5 stars out of 5; heartily recommended.

Books read in 2010: 16 [totalling 3,428 pages]
New authors: 10 [including this]
Published in 2010: 8 [including this; published in 2008 in England, this is the first US edition]
Classics: still 3