The Permanent Press Blog

Knock Knock Review on Gather.com

Shiela Deeth has praised Suzanne McNear's Knock Knock, a Life in her latest review on Gather.com

"Suzanne McNear’s Knock Knock, a Life brings a world of bright hopes and hard knocks into focus, where the Bishop rushes through confirmation, post-WWII songs play their soundtrack, and a father takes pictures of his daughter “to prove that she is pretty.” “To smile is to engage the world,” he says, and young March is learning to hide behind her smile.

Will success at school make her popular? Will finding a lover make her loved? Will marrying and carrying children make her the daughter she’s meant to be? But the world March grows up in is changing. Women’s roles broaden while men’s expectations hold them back. And the young woman who wants to fit in is condemned to feel like an imposter. March graduates, leaves home, gains her independence and returns with everything she’d hoped for and none of her dreams. But children bring connection to the present, even as depression drives March ever further from herself and her past." 

"The author uses detail to great effect in this novel, highlighting authenticity with echoes on the phone and the awkward determination of motherhood...The little girl who knew her neighbors so well eventually knows herself and tells her own tale, writing it down, bleeding an age into words, and delighting readers with hope’s ongoing fulfillment."

Read the full review and more at Gather.com

Look for Knock Knock coming December 31 from The Permanent Press!