Playing House by Patricia Pearson: A Review

The Story

Frannie has only started seeing Calvin, an experimental jazz musician, when she realizes she is pregnant. Not even sure about how she feels for her baby’s father, Frannie goes back home to Canada to avail of free medical checkups—only to be held back from returning to the United States because of unprocessed papers! While Calvin is touring Europe, Frannie has to decide if she is going to tell him that he is going to be a father and how that is going to affect the rest of her life. Then there’s that other matter of being stuck in Canada when all she wants to do is go back to New York. How is Frannie going to deal with everything plus her impending motherhood? 

The Standouts

How Frannie talks
Frannie is funny. As an editor at a New York publication, Frannie makes witty observations that can actually bring you to laugh out loud. The narration of the novel is a joy to read as Frannie goes through crazy yet realistic situations and reacts to them in a way only she can.

Screengrab from Amazon.comDepiction of motherhood
Unlike other novels that just gloss through the early stages of motherhood with a few paragraphs, the book describes in detail what Frannie has to go through during labor (she does get an epidural but it doesn’t work on her lower body), when she’s breastfeeding (her breasts start spurting milk in people’s faces), and as her son wails like he’s being abused (then all of a sudden becomes a sweet angel overnight). You feel as if you are going through everything with her—the craziness and the bliss.

The Letdowns
Unsatisfying ending
What’s up with books that entertain you all throughout then just let you down in the end? Without giving the story away, the book is a laugh and a half with heavy doses of reality, but you are left with an ending that feels like an afterthought.

Calvin
Though Frannie does admit that she doesn’t know Calvin all that well when she finds out she is pregnant, you start to feel that, despite already being in the middle of the book, you don’t know him all that well either. Even towards the end, there is still no real connection between him and the reader. Makes you wonder if this is because Frannie still feels this way towards him (despite her choices) or because not much attention was given to his character. Because of this, there aren’t any aww-inducing moments that a love story is supposed to have. And that can be a big letdown.

Bookshelf Meter: 3 stars

Bookshelf Meter:
1 star – Don’t even bother.
2 stars – Since there’s nothing else to read…
3 stars – Worth borrowing from a friend, but not buying your own
4 stars – Deserves a spot on your nightstand.
5 stars – Grab this book now and forget the one you’re reading!

Available at Fully Booked


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Olivia Yao has been writing ever since she can remember. She has written for health, teen, parenting, and children's magazines. Her latest endeavor is being a mom to her three-year-old daughter—her toughest assignment yet.


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