The Toaster Broke, So We're Getting Married, was a book recommended to me by my mother. Not normally my most reliable source for books that actually interest me, mostly they are the type of book which tell of deep and meaningful coming of age moments in a confused and misguided teenagers life, one word, boring. But I decided to give it a try because I knew some of the people in the book. The Toaster Broke, So We're Getting Married,was a good book and a fairly quick read. The length is a good indicator for the context, short but not flimsy.
So what's the book about? It's a narration by a single mother of a teenage daughter who is on the verge of getting married for the second time. A seemingly typical structure for a family of characters in a book or story. But the way it is written is what sets this book apart. The story is not told by a third person narrator, who at best as a detached "watchers" of the story can tell the movements of the characters and recount dialogue. It is a prefect mixture of the thoughts inside the head of Pamela Holm and dialogue between her and the many different people who must be talked to and met with in the course of planning a wedding.
The book starts as a listing of all the previous relationships Pamela has had, and as the list grows longer it can be seen why she might have some doubts as to whether she could be suited to be married ever again after a first failed marriage and many failed relationships after that. But the little adventures of deciding on the perfect wedding gown and which cake is ridiculous for $800 dollars, are told with the perspective of a down to earth person who knows it is ridiculous to spend years of time and salaries for the one day.
Over-all a very good book, don't expect War and Peace, but something that could be a nice escape, but not too far from reality.