Standing on my Brother’s Shoulders
Tara J Lal
Standing on my Brother’s Shoulders is a novel about Tara J Lal and her journey towards acceptance of the grief brought by her brother’s suicide. She also must face her father’s madness and her mother’s death.
It could be quite a heavy book but Lal makes an effort to keep the action moving and to always have a bit of humour. If not, there was a profound insight being shared, or expanded upon. I particularly enjoyed the notes from her brother’s journal.
I read about half of this novel, put it down, then read whole bunch of other things, and came back to it. I actually felt like the story action grew on me more after letting it sit there. I wasn’t particularly focused within reading the novel perhaps because I just wasn’t particularly convinced that she knew what she was doing in the order of actual writing.
I felt frustrated a lot of the time with her ‘character’, but really felt like I got to know her, flaws and all. For goodness sake, seeing a counsellor is always a good place to start (yes, yes, take your own advice). I felt like I really came to know her brother as much as she herself had known him. I would have liked to hear more about her current doings now that she’s overcome her grief.
I’d recommend this normal for those that have been touched by grief and those that are interested in real life memoirs. It is not an entertaining story to read, but it is a valuable addition to anyone’s reading list.
