Book Review: Bewilderment

This book brought me inside the life of Theo and Robin Byrne. Theo’s wife died suddenly when Robin was seven years old, and this story takes place just two years after her death. 

The two of them face the grief of their harrowing loss together, while Robin also struggles with behavioural and emotional difficulties. The book bounces between their lives and the exploration of envisioned other worlds, the writing gorgeously descriptive. 

The ending broke my heart. I had been completely caught up in the story, enthusiastically flying through the pages as I neared the final pages of the book when I hit what I would consider the crescendo moment. I was stopped in my tracks and had to go back several pages to make sure I was reading what I thought I was.

The artistry and realism that Powers brought to this story were both amazing and unbearable. The emotions that I experienced throughout this book, ranging from grief to excitement to inspiration to intrigue, is precisely what anyone could ever ask of an author. 

If you haven’t yet read Bewilderment, please treat yourself to this powerfully human story by Richard Powers. 

December 26, 2021