Review: Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta

Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was listening to an interview with Tom Perrotta about his book and was so engaged by the concepts he’s exploring that I ran and picked up the book. It explores sexuality, identity, being a parent, and how our choices can change our lives. The exploration of internet porn and how it’s changing our culture is fascinating. This is something that I wonder about often as the mother of two 12 year olds. The culture and our views of sexuality are so different than they were when I was young. I was looking forward to Perrotta really going deep with these ideas. Yet, I don’t feel like it was explored as deeply as I’d hoped. It some ways, I felt like it started down a path of exploration but then got lost along the way and focused on other things. And it never really got back to the interesting ideas it starts with. Which isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoyed it … I did. The novel is immensely readable. Very compelling and thoughtful. The combination of humor and social commentary that Perotta is known for is definitely on display in this novel. The character are all so flawed but drawn in such real terms that they felt very dynamic to me. All in all, I really liked this one. If you’re a Perrotta fan, I think you should definitely pick this one up!