I read “When God Was a Rabbit” for my book club. I hadn’t heard of it before perhaps because it’s a 2011 debut novel from a British author. I definitely would’ve remembered a title like that, which is different enough and made me not sure what to expect. But if you’re wondering, it’s not really a religious or supernatural novel per se.
It’s sort of a novel that’s hard to pinpoint, but it’s primarily about a brother (Joe) and his close, younger sister (Elly) who grow up in Cornwall, England with their parents. Elly tells their story, which spans from her birth in 1968 to 9/11, and from England to New York, where Joe moves as an adult. The narrative includes a colorful cast of Elly’s down-home parents, an aunt that’s gay, her quirky life-long friend Jenny Penny, her brother’s first love Charlie, family friends Arthur and Ginger, and of course a pet rabbit from childhood that her family refers to as God.
Along the way, each of the cast, who are all a bit quirky, seems to suffer a tragedy or hardship that marks their life, yet they persevere with the help of their strong bonds to each other. Elly and her brother are particularly close; she believes he’s the only one who truly understands her. But when a terrible event happens toward the end, their life-long bond is threatened.
In many ways, the novel is very readable and engaging, particularly in the first half when Elly is young and impressionable and telling of her life growing up. She is funny in places despite the bad things that happen, and the cast is interesting.
But later on, the second half of the novel gets a bit disjointed and meandering as if the author didn’t know where she was going with it. Some of the transitions get abrupt, making it hard to discern if the characters are in England or New York. Other details like Elly’s home-schooling are mentioned then dropped; years fly by. More bad things happen, and the narrative turns a bit maudlin. Elly seems to be yearning for her childhood days “when God was a rabbit” and her innocence wasn’t lost.
The novel has endearing qualities, but it just didn’t execute all the way through for me. My book club seemed to have a similar impression of it. What about you? Have you read this one? What did you think?
This just came through in my Reader for some reason. I own this book but haven’t read it. After your review, I’m not anxious to pick it up either.
Still a bit glad I read it. It has an interesting perspective and is quite readable
I saw this one somewhere. On a list of “to reads” maybe I am sorry it didn’t entirely work for you. The cover is lovely and that alone would have enticed me to read it. Oh, and the setting. Love the setting.
Yeah I would love to know what you think of it. Maybe give it a shot. It’s quite readable and you could get through it quickly
Thanks for telling me about your review, Susan. I was already seeing that sort of meandering pace in the first 35%. After reading your review, I think I made the right decision not to finish it. I just don’t have that much patience this time of year!
Yeah Susie: I recall it being a bit all over the place. So I can understand you putting it down. Her novel Tin Man seems more focused & stronger to me.