The Cradle

Tender story, but not remarkable

The cradle follows two storylines, one about Matt, a first time father-to-be who has been sent on a mission by his eight-months-pregnant wife to try to get the cradle that she was rocked in as a baby. Her mother abandoned the family some years earlier and the cradle is one of the items she took with her. The second and less interesting storyline is about a middle-aged woman named Renee struggling with the fears she harbors for her 19 year old son who has gone off to war in Iraq, and the memories that well up as a result. The two stories come together near the end. Besides Matt, there didn't seem to be any characters that I really got to know or like much, and that includes Renee. I found the character of Marissa annoying, and from comments throughout the book, I just had the feeling that Matt was always the one that took care of everything, all the time, throughout their married life. I would have liked to get to know Joe better, but his story was just beginning. Marissa's father, Joe's father, and Joe's grandmother all seemed unfinished.
This was a touching, tender book but like another reviewer's comments, I suspect there won't be anything of substance that stays with me a few weeks down the road.

Surprised at this one

I read alot, trust me, and I try to explore unknown authors, and I am sure glad I did with this book. It takes you on a journey this poor husband goes on for his pregnant wife and turns to take himself on an emotional journey as well. Great book, couldn't put it down

Good New Author

I have mixed emotions about this book. I thought the writing style was excellent and like a previous reviewer, I liked the character of Matt and also found Melissa a bit of a spoiled brat. Having said that, with the alternating stories, I kind of figured out where the plot was going. However, it's a good summer read.

Great plane reading

I enjoyed reading The Cradle, but a week later I could remember almost nothing about it. It certainly filled the time on a flight from London to New York.

Good Read

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville is definitely a worthy read. The characters are well-drawn and the story is intriguing. I read this book in one two hour commute, so, it is a very quick read and a good distraction.

The Cradle consists of two different storylines that weave together. One story follows Matt who is searching for his wife's long lost cradle and the other is about Renee as she deals with her son's decision to enlist in the military. Both stories weave together seamlessly. I really love this type of format. It creates an element of surprise and definitely makes the story more interesting and memorable. These two stories flow really well towards the end but it does take quite a while for the two stories to attain any form of cohesiveness. The beginning seems like two completely different books. I think this works well for this book because it makes the ending come as much more of a surprise. If the book had been longer than its 200 pages it might have become a problem but because of the novel's length, it did not.

I had really strong reactions to most of the characters. That is usually how I judge the books I read and these characters definitely elicited some very strong reactions. I loved Matt and Joe. They were such sweet characters. I was sad that Joe was given so little screen time. I wanted to strangle Marissa. She seemed to me like a spoiled little girl who was finally given a chance to be as demanding and annoying as she wanted because of her pregnancy. Honestly, if you want your cradle so bad go and get it yourself. Or at least go with your poor husband.

The writing was generally really good. I did find however that the dialogue was a bit clunky at at times but generally not enough to become really noticeable. Also the language in the novel as a whole more than made up for it.

Sweet book, quick easy read

Enjoyable, nothing special. Quick, can't see that a guy would enjoy it.

A journey of self discovery

I think the cover of Patrick Somerville's first novel The Cradle, newly released, is beautiful, as is the story itself.

Matt's wife Marissa is eight months pregnant. Out of the blue one morning, she insists that she needs the cradle she remembers from childhood for their child. She thinks the cradle may have ended up with her mother - who walked out on Marissa and her father when Marissa was young. With little information to go on, Matt strikes out on a journey to find and bring home the cradle. In another story line, written ten years later, we meet Renee, whose son is leaving soon for Iraq. Matt's pilgrimage leads him on a personal journey of discovery as his and Renee's story meet in very unexpected ways.

I enjoyed the character of Matt very much. He is a thoughtful, patient man with a distinct set of values, despite an unsettled early life. He is someone you could count on to do the right thing. Unfortunately I did not like Marissa at all. She is not written as straight forward as Matt. In the beginning I found her to petulant and unreasonable, determined to have her own way. Although she is somewhat redeemed later in the book, I still found her to be manipulative and never really connected with her character.

Renee's storyline, although integral to the plot, dragged for me. The writing seemed slow, ponderous and unnecessarily drawn out. I found myself skimming through some of these paragraphs.

"She looked at the dark monitor of the computer. Screen saver, stars. She heard the furnace all the way down in the basement creak to life. The high pitched pulse of the doorbell startled her. She looked over her shoulder...."

Some of the metaphors used, although beautiful, seemed to overpower the idea the author was trying to present.

This is a quiet, unassuming narrative on the true meaning of love, family and parenthood that will leave you thinking about your own relationships. To qoute Matt;

" What he felt was gratitude. Something in him, though , told him that whatever the reasons, for their existence, it had to do with this same feeling. Gratitude."

This would make an interesting selection for a book group.

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