When Jane was five years old, her mother shot her abusive husband, Jane's father, and was sentenced to twenty years in prison. This is backstory. When the book opens, she's seventeen and has left the loveless relatives who raised her, and gone to reclaim her abandoned childhood home and take up her father's business of raising rabbits for meat.
The book is about the process of Jane fixing up the house, putting in a garden, meeting locals, launching her rabbit business, expanding it to raise pet and show rabbits, and coming to grips with her past and family and herself. It's short (120 pages) but feels in-depth. Jane is a likable, interesting character, and her choices and dilemmas and experiences feel very real, from making herself butcher her own rabbits to going on a date and wishing she was home reading.
I love books about solitude. I am a largely solitary person myself. When I'm alone by my own choice and can meet people whenever I want, I am completely content to spend the majority of my time by myself. (Enforced solitude is not something I enjoy. Thanks Covid!)
I was very pleased to discover that The Solitary is in fact a novel about solitude - not only that, but the particular type I like - and makes an explicit case that it's completely fine for a woman to be solitary, and that solitude doesn't have to mean you're alone all the time but can mean that you're alone exactly as much as you prefer. It also explores the difficulties and pleasures of self-reliance and running your own business.
This was so extremely up my alley that it overcame the squick factor of the business being raising rabbits for meat. I liked the book a lot, and recommend it if you're OK with that.
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queenbookwench recced this book to me, and it sounded so interesting that I ordered it used. Excellent rec, thank you very much!
The Solitary
The book is about the process of Jane fixing up the house, putting in a garden, meeting locals, launching her rabbit business, expanding it to raise pet and show rabbits, and coming to grips with her past and family and herself. It's short (120 pages) but feels in-depth. Jane is a likable, interesting character, and her choices and dilemmas and experiences feel very real, from making herself butcher her own rabbits to going on a date and wishing she was home reading.
I love books about solitude. I am a largely solitary person myself. When I'm alone by my own choice and can meet people whenever I want, I am completely content to spend the majority of my time by myself. (Enforced solitude is not something I enjoy. Thanks Covid!)
I was very pleased to discover that The Solitary is in fact a novel about solitude - not only that, but the particular type I like - and makes an explicit case that it's completely fine for a woman to be solitary, and that solitude doesn't have to mean you're alone all the time but can mean that you're alone exactly as much as you prefer. It also explores the difficulties and pleasures of self-reliance and running your own business.
This was so extremely up my alley that it overcame the squick factor of the business being raising rabbits for meat. I liked the book a lot, and recommend it if you're OK with that.
queenbookwench recced this book to me, and it sounded so interesting that I ordered it used. Excellent rec, thank you very much!The Solitary
