Heavy Cream
...a dazzling, unconventional coming-of-age story that charts, with precision and humor, the many ways to be a woman ... Blakley-Cartwright tactfully charts the girl’s complex loyalties as she decides whether to defend or reject her mother, finding the weight of shame and obligation even heavier than the crushing codependency once was. And as the reader learns more about Helene, Blakley-Cartwright poses thorny questions of motherhood ... Occasionally Blakley-Cartwright passes up an opportunity to more deeply excavate Gerry’s feelings in favor of humor, her numbness making it hard for the stakes to reach their full gravity.
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A memorable novel that deserves to be read more than once... for readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories with independent but flawed women.
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Gerry makes for a winning protagonist as she weighs her fantasies of artistic success and the influence of her three mentors while trying to find her place within their opposing social and economic classes. Culminating with a hard dose of reality, it’s a fresh story of female resilience.
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