Book review: Shame, regret and self-loathing -- the underside of parenting beautifully portrayed
Elizabeth Marro's affecting and beautiful first novel, "Casualties," does not shy away from shame, regret and self-loathing -- the underside of parenting. She takes us places we don't want to go, makes us look, makes us feel. Her characters' journey becomes ours and, as a consequence, we exult in their hard-won reckonings. "Casualties" begins on the West Coast, in San Diego, where Ruth Nolan, an executive for a company that supplies contractors to support the military in Iraq, sees her own son Robbie enlist in the Marines and take two tours of duty in Iraq. She must put on a good face, given her work and all the ex-military in the company, but she is distraught. And relieved. For once, she does not have to carry all the responsibility for her troubled son.
Feb 3, 2016 9:32 AM