Book Review: Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

First of all, HUGE thank you to @orionbooks for this review copy! Chalk it up now: Tiffany McDaniel is a REAL bonafide talent. The Summer That Melted Everything was not a one-off masterpiece - McDaniel is here to stay.

“Boys are like that. Always tryin’ to pretend they’re savin’ girls from somethin’. They never seem to realize, we can save ourselves.”

Betty is a coming-of-age tale based upon McDaniel’s mother’s upbringing in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Heavily infused with the stunning storytelling and culture of the Cherokee people, Betty is the story of the Carpenter family.

In a nutshell, if you loved TSTME, there’s a great chance you’ll fall head over heels for this story too. Once again Tiffany manages to explore a multitude of heavy themes including rape, incest, sexual abuse, racism, poverty and so forth, through her beautifully poetic prose. But as you can see, there are many trigger warnings for this one!

One of my favourite things about McDaniel’s work so far is the depiction of the magical father-son/daughter relationships she writes into her stories. Personally this is a sensitive spot for me, having lost my father at a relatively young age, so I take extra pleasure in reading about and imagining what such a relationship could look like. This book is sad. It’s heartbreaking and tragic, it will break your heart in two, but Betty’s relationship with her father is one of the lights that shines through all the darkness. As is her relationship with her sisters (most of the time!).

Admittedly it took me a while to get into Betty at the beginning. I struggled a little when it came to grasping the Cherokee culture and history as I’m simply not familiar with it, but once I did, those stories were very moving.

McDaniel is quickly becoming an all-time favourite author - I’d recommend this one wholeheartedly! (But be mindful of the trigger warnings, of course) 4 stars.

Johann

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