Magpie
Magpie by Elizabeth Day
Reviewed by Linda
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Thank you @livmarmar for sending this over to us & to @elizabday for giving us a winner this summer!
Let me break it down for you - there is every manner of MIX UP here. If messy, psychological page-turners are your thing, then look no further. Dig a bit deeper though, and the themes are poignant: fertility, motherhood, and mental health to name but a few.
Meet Marisa, Jake & Kate. Imagine a Venn diagram with these 3 characters - at the intersection is where Elizabeth takes the reader on a trip into the pits of darkness, and longing. After 3 months, Marisa feels as though she's struck gold with Jake, and my word she has.
Marisa is a difficult lead character to get on board with but considering her dysfunctional upbringing, we let this slide as she turns a new leaf with Jake.
As the couple settles into their new pad they’ve already decided to start a family and to boost funds, Kate enters their home as a lodger as Marisa soon finds out she is expecting. Kate becomes way too comfortable and it is evident that not only is she the most annoying housemate but that she is no stranger to Jake. What is her agenda exactly?
I was absorbed & stayed up to get to the bottom of this. I sympathised with Marisa, I hated Kate & I couldn't bear Jake, and then righttt at the halfway mark, all is revealed. I actually had to double-take.🤯
If you're thinking that this is a blatant love triangle, you are mistaken. Did I not tell you it was MESSY!?
And so I will end my review here because there is no way to describe the mother of all twists without giving away too much information.
Just know this, the plot is sharp & clever and it is confirmed that Elizabeth's writing is as glorious in fiction as it is in non-fiction (for those that didn’t know this already). But I just wanted to close with a note of admiration for the author. It’s not often you come across fiction that tackles serious yet unspoken issues such as fertility without trivialising them for the sake of drama & Elizabeth addresses all of this with empathy & candour - whilst simultaneously being so open about her own journey with the rest of us. A must read.