Someone

Someone (2013) by Alice McDermott. This is an extraordinary book about an ordinary person. McDermott tells the life of Marie Commeford from childhood to old age, as she mixes with the other inhabitants of her Irish-American neighborhood in Brooklyn. The novel has the ring of authenticity as it jumps from time period to time period, describing Marie's periods of devastating pain and unexpected joys, bursts of brilliant clarity and moments of profound confusion. She ends up by chance with a job as a comforter in a funeral home, a job that gives her a unique perspective on the human condition. She suffers heartache at lost love, and then love from a surprising quarter. It all makes for a very good read in this slender volume. Recommended. Grade: B+