{"id":609,"date":"2022-04-13T11:32:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T11:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetatteredspine.com\/?p=609"},"modified":"2022-04-13T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T11:57:11","slug":"unlikely-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetatteredspine.com\/?p=609","title":{"rendered":"Unlikely Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unlikely Animals<\/p>\n

by<\/p>\n

Annie Hartnett<\/p>\n

Published by Random House April 12, 2022<\/p>\n

What a quirky collection of characters, odd ghosts, and unlikely animals! Toss in some significant issues such as a missing person, opioid addiction, and dementia, and you have a way out-there story that somehow works thru it all. The narration itself is unusual; a single voice made up of an us\/we collection of the souls residing at Maple Street. (Maple Street being the town\u2019s only cemetery).<\/p>\n

In the beginning I was not sure what to think about this menagerie of situations. We have a golden girl coming home after finally admitting to her parents she never actually went to medical school. Her ner-do-well brother is also home after being discharged once again from rehab. We have a class full of elementary school children with no teacher and no direction. Add a retired poetry professor, some very real ghosts, an old high school crush and you end up with a heck of a mix of a story. You would think this would be just a disaster of circumstances\u2026. except it\u2019s not. Those issues? They are genuine issues. Emma\u2019s father Clive is dying of a mysterious brain disease. Emma\u2019s best friend is missing. Emma\u2019s hometown is overrun with a heroin epidemic. Not to mention all the animals! Rabbits in the kitchen (imagined). Cats in the classroom (imagined). A crazed deer in the house (real). Add a very large dog, a couple of bears and a very adorable Russian fox\u2026.. I know, it sounds all scattered at first, but hold on. Because this seemingly adrift story emerges as a truly thought-provoking experience. I had to take a deep breath the moment I realized Clive\u2019s brain disorder was true dementia as opposed to a ghost induced affliction. I could feel his own confusion, and Emma\u2019s heartache, when he could not remember where his wife was. Why he was not teaching anymore. Why he was not allowed to carry his own wallet or drive his own car. Yet there are moments of profound clarity, beautiful in their simplicity. And wisdom; little things like Clive telling Emma she is not too messed up, only just as messed up as she is supposed to be at her age.<\/p>\n

This story is about so many different things.  New love and old love. Dying, and memories of being alive. Friendship and family. And finding new purposes in life and being made to feel valuable and useful again. I really adored this story. I especially loved Clive; I can see him in his younger days, with his long hair and rockstar clothes as he screamed thru town on his motorcycle. In real life I don\u2019t think he would have been too judgmental (had he known) of Emma, heading to work with a hangover on a Monday morning. (Yeah, we know what she did thanks to the ghosts watching over there from Maple Street.)  <\/p>\n

This is definitely a worthy read. The author has done an excellent job melding these stories and characters together, these unlikely animals, as they try to move forward in the face of their own heartbreak and hardships. Well done.<\/p>\n

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and especially Annie Hartnett for allowing me early access to this wonderful book. I enjoyed it very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett Published by Random House April 12, 2022 What a quirky collection of characters, odd ghosts, and unlikely animals! Toss in some significant issues such as a missing person, opioid addiction, and dementia, and you have a way out-there story that somehow works thru it all. The narration itself is unusual; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t