As women, we have expectations placed on our shoulders from a young age. We are taught to aim for marriage, then a kid, then a second kid. We are taught to defer, to be quiet, to not create a scene, to understand, to be seen but not heard, to be more womanly because “nobody will marry you if you are not womanly.” Modern times mean that we get education and jobs before marriage, but society’s definition of what a woman ‘should’ be and what a woman should aspire to has shifted only that much.
But a large percentage of women, even in this time and age, aren’t asked what they want. It’s always, “be grateful for what you have” and “don’t throw this away for some dream,” and not, “listen to your heart!” So many of us have dreams of traveling, of seeing the world, of doing things beyond the atmosphere we grew up in, and we want to realize those dreams. Instead of encouragement, however, we receive a “Do whatever you want after you get married! You’ll have all the time then.” I had my share of limits and freedom but I’m lucky to have found a man who understands and encourages me in so many ways. So many aren’t.
And the central story of The Warbler is that battle between dreams on opposite ends of the spectrum.
The Warbler is the story of Elisa, who is cursed to grow roots and turn into a tree if she stays in one place for too long. She leaves after ten months and now, arrives in a town that no one can leave. She is tired of moving and when she arrives in Greenborough, she hopes that she will find answers about her family’s curse. What she learns about the town, its people, its history, and in turn, her family, is what The Warbler is all about.
This book, with the topics I’ve mentioned before, won’t fill you with explosive fury. Instead, it lights up something inside you, a familiar, simmering anger, because you’ve already experienced some of these. You know what Rose feels like they were your own feelings. You also relate to Elisa and her mother’s feelings. The difference between these three is just one word: agency. Women have been denied agency in ways big and small, and when you read about these three women, you will pause and think.
I was in tears halfway through the book, furious too at a side character. Internalized misogyny is one thing; selfishness is a whole other thing. Combine these two and it’s a stretch of story that will make you want to THROW the book aside and collect yourself before you can make any progress. You’ll understand this when you reach the end of the book, but the path to that end is filled with potholes of emotion, patriarchy, and plot sluggishness. And yet, it somehow works.
The end to a book like this needs to leave you satisfied, with some answers. And it does to a certain extent. But even as I turned the last page, I knew that it was a bit rushed and it feels like you don’t get all the answers to the questions that were posed throughout the book. It felt way too convenient and like the author took the easy way out by not revealing these facets and instead burying them in an air of mystery.
But, I do think that the overall story makes up for it because I came away from it feeling challenged AND vindicated. And if a book makes me feel these things in addition to entertaining me and making me invested in the lives of its characters, I’ll not complain much.
Would I call this a perfect book? Absolutely not. I don’t think there are very many of those out there and this definitely isn’t perfect.
But would I recommend it anyway? Absolutely yes! If you get the chance to read The Warbler, please do.
That was my review of The Warbler by Sarah Beth Durst. What did you think of my review? Have you read The Warbler? If you have, what did you think of it? If you haven’t, will you pick this book up after reading my review? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
I’ll see you in the next blog post.
Until then, keep reading and add melodrama to your life! 🙂
The Melodramatic Bookworm 