Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Invaders, Karolina Waclawiak

The Invaders; Karolina Waclawiak
Blackstone Audio - 2015
(narrator - Bernadette Dunne - was fantastic)

Little Neck Cove is a wealthy seaside community in Connecticut where outsiders are clearly not welcomed. Here snobby country club ladies embellish stories to police for the purpose of having "the invaders" removed.  It's a place where border fences are built along the seawall by migrant workers to keep harmless fishermen out as well.

Cheryl is a 40-something year old wife of much older Jeffrey who never felt like she fit in among the other country club wives.  Once a trophy wife for Jeffery who ditched his first wife for Cheryl, now Jeffrey has lost interest in middle-aged Cheryl as well.  Teddy is Jeffrey's son, who is living with the couple after he was kicked out of Dartmouth. He's a troubled kid, whose mother has died and he is unable to curb his drug use. Cheryl and Teddy have something in common though - both of their lives are falling apart.

The storyline is hard to describe but for the most part, it is a story about identity, fitting in and family.  There is a good deal of focus on women and aging and how women are easily cast aside by some men for younger trophy wives.  The story begins with a lovely sunrise and ends with a hurricane approaching which was so appropriate for how the story plays out.

Most of the characters are unlikable and some are clearly racists.  Even though Cheryl and Teddy were not exactly likable characters, at times I felt their internal turmoil.  The Invaders reads like a dark satire about what life is probably like among the rich, bored inhabitants of one snobbish coastal community.  I was on the fence about how I really felt about this book. It is definitely a story that annoyed me at times yet I loved the audio version so much.  The narrator Bernadette Dunne was fantastic. She made the characters and their self-destructiveness come alive to make this story feel like a screenplay at times.

3.5/5 stars
(library audiobook)


15 comments:

  1. What's sad is that's probably close to a true story in some places.

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  2. Great review, Diane. The book sounds interesting in a dark way,so I downloaded a sample to my kindle a couple of weeks ago... maybe I'll try audio instead though.

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  3. Sounds somewhat depressing but interesting. I might pass on this one.

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  4. Diane,
    Thank you for sharing some thoughts about this audio book. It sounds kind of depressing in some ways, but the fact that you were engaged by it says that it is worthwhile.

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  5. Definitely sounds like an interesting read. Might be one for my library list!

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  6. I've heard mixed reviews of this one, but it really appeals to me. I love dark satire, so I hope to give it a try at some point!

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    1. I can see this as one you might want to try (good summer choice).

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  7. I wish my library had the audio!

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    1. The audio was very enjoyable. I hope you can locate it somewhere.

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  8. Hi, Diane,
    Did you feel as you were reading that the author had a particular location in mind, which was as extreme in its exclusion as this? Or did it seem as though she was exaggerating for the point of her satire?
    I'm definitely out of the loop here and would be interested to know.
    Judith


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    1. Interesting question Judith. At times I felt she was bashing the people from the Hamptons although Little Neck Cove is supposed to be in CT so really I am not sure.

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  9. Great review! This book sounds interesting but I'm not sure about the unlikeable characters. Some times they work great in a story but other times they don't and simply make your blood boil, lol.

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