ALL THE UGLY AND WONDERFUL THINGS By Bryn Greenwood

The group engaged a long discussion of All The Ugly And Wonderful Things last Wednesday.   It is the story of a girl (Wavy), who at the age of 8, develops a friendship with a young man (Kellen) who is 20.  Their relationship evolves from a big brother/little sister situation to a sexual one as they get older.  

This book dealt with many uncomfortable subjects: illegal drugs, spousal abuse, child abuse/neglect, murder.  But, in particular, the sexualization of children and pedophilia.  And yet, the author takes that topic, flips it on its side and forces the reader to look at an older man/young girl relationship from a different perspective.   While none of us would ever condone a 28 year old man hooking up with OUR 13 year old daughter, somehow the author flipped this narrative from “Ugly” to “Wonderful”.  What really is the best course of action and care for a child at risk?  We found ourselves scratching our heads, how brilliant a writer, to take something so taboo as pedophilia, and encourage the reader to consider, is this specific relationship okay with me?  Would it be okay if this were a Catholic priest and a young boy?  If not, why?  Why are we not more outraged at the criminality of the situation?  

This novel pushed our boundaries and found us questioning our viewpoint on age of consent.  What defines a healthy relationship?  We found ourselves being appalled by and then defending Kellen's actions, all in the same breath.  This book stuck with many of us, but in the end, we discovered, you don’t have to agree with every story to appreciate it.  The book was highly rated by all of us, scores ranging from 4.0-4.75.