Thoughtful themes include friendship, mother/daughter relationships, family secrets, siblings, motherhood, flexibility, and finding love. When her mother dies, Susan’s world is turned upside down in multiple ways causing her to need some friend support and to practice flexibility. At the beginning of the story, Susan’s a loner and runs her lonely life efficiently and satisfactorily. Susan doesn’t have any close friends and she’s not close to her extended family. She grew up feeling unloved and unnoticed by her mother, was jealous of her brother, and experienced a great deal of stress in her childhood because of her father’s alcoholic behaviors. It took me about 60% into the read before I became endeared to Susan. I loved Eleanor from the first pages, so I wondered how this comparison would play out as I continued to read. Although, like Eleanor, Susan’s life is regimented and compartmentalized, she is prickly and unlikeable. For me, quirky is a word that has an endearing component. My first impression was that Susan is more unlikeable and difficult than quirky. Like Eleanor? A popular blurb for The Cactus states that if you loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, you will love this story.

Can she adapt to these unexpected circumstances and could they bring her unexpected joy? My Thoughts: Facing the added complication of an already strained relationship with her brother, Susan needs to take immediate action to bring order to her world once again. Susan’s mother dies suddenly at the same time she finds out that she’s pregnant. Suddenly, life presents a couple of unexpected turn of events. Her life is carefully structured for one person: her flat is orderly and just the right size for one, her job is ideal for her analytical abilities, her cactus plants are dutifully tended, and her “relationship” is carefully defined and scheduled. Susan Green has a perfectly controlled life until she doesn’t. *This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Genre/Categories: Women’s Contemporary Fiction, Family Life, Friendship

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood