In the mood for a depressing book? I've got a winner for you right here! Anna Quindlen's One True Thing opens with a daughter in prison, being charged with her mother's death. The novel digs into the life that the main character is more or less forced to live while caring for her terminally ill mother, which turns out to be her mother's life more than the life she was creating for herself in New York. And while the mother/daughter relationship does have some redeeming qualities, the book factors in a seemingly thankless father, a self-centered "boyfriend", and a community that is unable to deal with watching one of its members deteriorate.
Honestly, I struggled getting through book, and at times was only compelled to keep reading because I wanted to get to the trial at the end out of pure curiosity to see what the verdict was going to be. Without that element of drama and suspense, the tone and attitude of the book pretty well mirror the downward spiral of the mother's life, and there were many times where I was just not in the mood to pick this book up and depress myself. But--the book is written very well, and the issues it addresses, while not being very "warm and fuzzy", are most certainly real. While I'm not chomping at the bit to recommend this to everyone I see, I will say that it might make a good "book club" book. Being able to share and discuss some of the "bleakness" and struggles in the book would perhaps help to make it more enjoyable. As a single reader, though, I don't know that I would pick this book up again.
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