“I have cancer…..”
states Teresa and those words set the stage for Cheryl Strayed’s book, The Torch. The book draws a great deal from Strayed’s
own real life history relying on the people she has interacted with during her
growing up in Minnesota. The story
starts with Teresa’s sharing of the diagnosis with her two children, Claire and
Josh, and then goes back into the day leading to the announcement. Teresa, a survivor of a physically abusive
relationship with her first husband, lands another man in her life, Bruce, who
serves as a legitimate father figure for the two children, though the two do
not wed until right before succumbing to cancer. The story reminds me so much of the author
Jodi Picoult in that (seemingly) all of the social issues of life become part
of the storyline in this book. Strayed’s
strength is the development of the characters.
Teresa’s growth as a person is captured with a sense of realism and
purpose. The first half of the book
focuses on her life prior to cancer, and the second half focuses on what
happens to the three main people in her life after Teresa dies. Needless to say, the three do not do well
after Teresa’s death. Her son Joshua
gets involved in dealing drugs, even to a single mom, until the guilt gets to
him. Eventually he is arrested after he
learns his girlfriend is pregnant.
Teresa’s daughter, Claire, becomes frigid and incapable of sustaining
the sexual part of her relationship with her “live-in” boyfriend. She eventually confesses she had an affair
with the husband of a patient who died of cancer that she met when her mother
was dying. And then there was Bruce,
whom seems to be shy of formal commitment, as witnessed by his decade long relationship
with Teresa without marrying, then marries the next door neighbor a few months
after Teresa’s passing. The aftermath of
Teresa’s death is pretty devastating to the three who were left behind. Grief does come out in different ways, too
bad the characters were unable to lean on each other a bit more. Clearly some counseling would have helped
this trio! While I thought the
characters were believable, the “onslaught” of issues was a bit over the
top. This would make for a great Monday
night movie on Lifetime. Not my favorite
read, luckily it reads quickly and not a long book. Not necessarily needed to be added to your
list. Sure to come out on a network tv
channel movie at some point in time.
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