Review of
Instaread Summary Fates
and Furies A Novel by Lauren Groff
Five out of five stars
When reading
through this Instaread summary, it is clear that the author is experienced at
literary criticism. The plot and major characters are explained in tight, clear
summaries. The focus is on the marriage and lives of Lancelot (Lotto) and Mathilde and the tale has
two parts, the first called “Fates” and the second “Furies.” Both titles are
references to the mythological creatures.
Lotto was a
child of privilege and a caring environment. He was very much the focus of
quality attention when he was young, so he grew up believing that his success
was fated. Lotto is an actor and a successful playwright, although Mathilde
does a great deal to polish and improve his plays. Yet, like so many that
appear to exude confidence, there is an inner demon of insecurity within Lotto.
Through most of the years of their marriage, Lotto has no idea at all what
Mathilde’s background is.
Mathilde experienced
a great deal of trauma in her life, she was shipped away by her parents at the
age of four to live with a grandmother that was a prostitute. She is packed
into a closet when her grandmother is working and eventually has to cope with
discovering her grandmother’s murdered body. At the age of eleven her next stop
is living with an uncle that largely ignores her and is engaged in some form of
criminal activity.
As is mentioned
in the summary, the marriage of the privileged Lotto and the traumatized
Mathilde is one of information withheld. Their disparate backgrounds and
Mathilde’s strained childhood creates the background for a great deal of
tension and suppressed stress. Raising the interesting question as to how much
disclosure is really good for a marriage. While it is often said that there
should be no secrets, revealing all is often a recipe for marital problems.
The synopsis of
the book is done so well in this summary that it could be used by students to
successfully fake the fact that they read it, if they were required to do so.
This item was made available for free for review
purposes.
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