The Kitchen Daughter

The Kitchen Daughter, by Jael McHenry, is an ambitious book. For one, it's narrated by a young woman with Asperger's. For another, Jael McHenry does not have Asperger's. And for a third, there are ghosts.

It's interesting that I read this book write after The Murderer's Daughters, because both books are stories of sisters and their struggles for dominance over one another. In this story, Ginny, the older sister, resists younger Amanda's efforts to get her diagnosed with Asperger's after their parents die unexpectedly. Amanda doesn't think Ginny should stay in the house alone after having been sheltered from so much as going to the store alone her whole life. Ginny worries any diagnosis will give Amanda the upper hand and reduce her chances of staying put, even as she begins to acknowledge her need to hide in closets for hours with her hands in her parents' shoes.

The best part of this debut novel is the dialogue. The character of Gert, the cleaning lady, has some great lines about grief. And the conversations between Amanda and Ginny are jarring to someone like me who has only recently begun to say what I really think instead of pretending like everything is always okay and then seething later.

For example:

Amanda says, "God, are you even listening to me?"

I tell her the truth. "No."

"This is your future we're talking about!"

"You're talking about it. I'm not."

"This is the bottom line," she says. "Will you go to the doctor to make me happy?"

"No."

"That makes me unhappy."

"Then be unhappy," I say. We're all unhappy sometimes. I don't see why Amanda should get to be exempt.

I think that's what I took from this book. I have no idea if the Asperger's parts are accurate, because I don't have any Aspies in my immediate sphere. I do like the authenticity of the relationship between the sisters and thinking about saying what you really feel and what that does to a relationship. I really could've done without the ghosts, as they didn't add anything to the story and seemed sort of thrown in as an afterthought to me. The story would've been much better without them.

Read it for the dialogue, skip the ghosts.

Comments

[starrlife]

Interesting perspective. One thing I've noticed amongst the Aspies I've known is their gift for saying things as they are, difficulty prevaricating and authenticity. Not everyone would appreciate that - many it makes uncomfortable but me, I like it! Sounds like you find it refreshing too.