FICTION

The Barter

by Siobhan Adcock
Dutton. Sept. 2014. 320p. ISBN 9780525954224. $26.95; ebk. ISBN 9780698161375. F
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New mother Bridget has given up her career as a lawyer to stay at home with her daughter in a comfortable Texas suburb. Resentful about her sacrifice, she feels plagued by picture-perfect mothers and family-friendly cookouts. Bridget tactfully plays the part in her new role, doing her best to fit in with the other caretakers in the neighborhood, until she discovers a ghost haunting her home. The apparition drives Bridget to the edges of madness, distancing her from her husband and evoking fear in their daughter. In a parallel story taking place nearly 100 years earlier, Rebecca leaves her family's pleasant home in town to become a farmer's wife. The similar narratives of Bridget and Rebecca reflect the trials of early motherhood, discontentment at home, and the strains of marriage.
VERDICT Like Curtis Sittenfeld's Sisterland, Adcock's debut novel weaves the doldrums of early motherhood with the supernatural. However, her plot is unevenly paced and will leave readers wishing this ghost story were more suspenseful. [See Prepub Alert, 3/31/14.]
Reviewed by Emily Hamstra, Univ. of Michigan Libs., Ann Arbor , Sep 01, 2014
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