A year away from little old lady

My blog this week seems to be about me writing about the books I've been reading.

Today's installment is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I'll admit that for the first several chapters I wasn't sure if this was a book I was going to finish. The main character, Vera, I initially found more than a little grating. And then I realized it was (yet another) book told from different character's points of view. That's been a thing recently and I'm pretty much over it. If I had known this ahead of time, I might not have even picked it up. 

But forty or so pages in seemed a bit premature for dumping it, so I persevered. I'm glad I did because I'm the end I found the book charming, even coming to terms with Vera. It actually ended up being less about the mystery and much more about the characters. I'll also warn you that you might also experience cravings for Chinese food as you read it. 

There is one thing that annoyed me throughout the book, though: the age the author made Vera. Vera is described as being a little old lady and at one point her hand is described as being wrinkly with liver spots. This wouldn't be an issue except that Vera, we're told at the beginning of the book is...

Wait for it ..

60. 

For comparison I'm fifty-nine. Unless something really drastic happens in the next year, I'm 100% convinced that no one will be  describing me as a little old lady at sixty. And as far as wrinkly, liver spotted hands, well I'm not twenty, but I also don't think I'm to elderly yet, either. 


The author might not have a good grasp of ages over fifty, but surely someone at the publishers must, right? 

Comments

Leslie said…
I really enjoyed that book, too. I recommend it all the time, but I always tell people that where the author wrote "60", they should mentally translate it to "80".
7/21/2025 5:56 AM
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