Cavedweller

Years and years ago, I devoured Bastard out of Carolina. Then I got ahold of Cavedweller - and it might as well have dwelt in a cave itself for all the notice I took of it. Why did it take me so long to pick it up and read it?Answer: the cover photo was ambiguous and didn't draw me in, and the title was...odd. What a mistake! I picked it up while cleaning out bookshelves a few days ago, flipped to the first page, and barely put it down till I'd finished it. It begins with death, and death (or the threat of death - many near misses) persists throughout. But somehow the women of this book triumph above poverty, narrow-minded neighbors, small town pettiness, Holy Roller invective, no-good men (though, to Allison's credit, there ARE a few good men), and lack of opportunity.I admire the author's ability to move seamlessly forward in time without her readers demanding to know absolutely everything that happened in the intervening years. Characters grow and learn and change, and Allison's writing plops us down at the critical moments so we can observe first-hand the events that caused the transitions.Wonderful book, wonderful characters, wonderful writing.Highest recommendation, right behind Bastard out of Carolina.

Dorothy Allison's eloquent vision exposes a sentimentality of everyday life that few dare to comprehend and ever write about.Immediately drawing the reader's attention,Dorothy Allison shows how she can control a world entangled in sensual dreams and direct realities.Within this world,Allison creates believable characters that explore life with wild abandonment.Furthermore,Allison is successful in her combination of and transition between the unsympathetic glitter of the music industry and the gospel revelations of the southern spirit.Her multifaceted and emotionally charged confessional leaves an undeniable impression upon those who can willingly accept their share of vulnerability.Cavedweller narrates the lives of four unique women,linked together by the world in which they live.The omnious opening abruptly places the reader into Allison's intensive hands. From there,she begins to lead the reader on a vivid journey through misery and charm.The contextual settings within Allison's passages are also very indicative of Allison's knack for creating subtle imagery that holds profound meaning.At some point, the reader must ask what is the significance of the novel's title-- Cavedweller.Allison delays the relevance of the novel's title,almost deliberately,which only entices the reader to explore more pages.But when the caves do appear,Allison does not hold back on her visionary excellence.She comes at the reader with full force,exposing a world of deep solace and contemplation.It is in these parts of the novel where Allison truly shines with her display of poetic prose and rhythmic sensuality.Even after the novel is gracefully completed,Dorothy Allison's touching lyricism continues to remain with the reader's consciousness;adding more complexity,relevancy,and mystery to the life that everyone compulsively intends to find.*****

I found this novel totally engrossing. I wanted to neglect my kids just to continue on with Delia, Cissy, et al. I admire Dorothy Allison; she has captured dimensions of the feminine heart in these women. It's interesting that the novel begins with a thought about death and towards the end each of Delia's daughters has a brush with death. I think the transformative moment is when Delia is with Dede at the jail. A moment of honesty that changes a whole family legacy of abandonment and loneliness. I was deeply moved by this novel. The characters rang true.

What I intended to get was Bastard Out of Carolina but well, they don't have it! I thought this book would be extremely boring, the stereotype mother-daughter thing which is similar to works of Kaye Gibbons, Mona Simons, Anne Tyler etc. Nevertheless, the inner beauty and mystery about human relationships stunned me the way the caves attracted Cissy. This is definitely a beautiful and powerful book. The story might not be anything very exciting but the characters, especially Delia and Cecilia, are vivid and well-remembered. You can easily feel the urge to show sympathy to the women and yet you are surprised to see the strength Delia had to struggle to pull her family together again.It too is a very realistic book and well, mother-daughter relationships are never easy to maintain. The writer didn't hesitate to mention the flaws in her characters and thus making the novel worth-reading.