Official Review: Knowing is not Enough

[L_Therese]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Knowing is not Enough" by Patricia Walker Chatman.]

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Knowing is Not Enough by Patricia Walker Chatman is a story about a woman finding her inner strength and rebuilding her life on her own terms. After catching her husband Jake in the act of cheating with another woman, Dr. Alex Nichols has had enough. Jake’s penchant for infidelity has finally pushed her past her breaking point, and she demands a divorce. It was easy to remove Jake from her life physically, but Alex soon finds that removing the mental and emotional impact his behavior had on her is much more difficult. As Alex tries to pick up her life and move on, she finds that she keeps getting pulled down again. Frustrated and hurt, Alex must come to terms with what is holding her back.

On the surface, this seems like it would be a book about a woman discovering inner strength. She was down and hurt, but with the support of friends and family, she will pick herself up again and face her demons. But that’s not what happens. Maybe it’s a nod to realism, but I could not find that kind of strength in Alex Nichols. When she falls, she whines and then retreats into dramatics and avoidance. In the course of the book, she alienates almost every character, compromises her moral principles, and repeatedly goes crawling back to people who are hurting her.

The experience of reading much of this book was like going back to high school. Gossip rules the day, and the person who gives a sanctimonious lecture first gets the moral high ground (regardless of the actual situation). Any and all relationship developments need to be reported to friends immediately, but no one will talk when rumors about you are circulating. The characters are meant to be mature adults, but their moments of true maturity seemed few and far between.

Another element that made this book hard to read was how episodal it was. There were a myriad of time jumps, most of which were unannounced so that you only found out what the time frame was afterward by comments the characters make about how long a relationship lasted or how long it’s been over. Furthermore, some of the missing periods contained crucial moments in the characters’ lives and the book’s events. For example, among the missing are the period between when Alex tells Jake she wants a divorce and the divorce’s finalization, the period between Alex having a brief confrontation with her friend Sanford shortly(?) after the divorce and approximately a year later when she reunites with her friends and her sister after apparently avoiding them for months, and nearly the entirety of the period (supposedly a month or so) when Alex and a new love interest start to build a relationship that gets cut off abruptly, breaking Alex’s heart again. These missing periods make it hard to empathize with Alex, because the reader has no set-up to understand her emotions. Was the divorce messy? Why did she feel like she had to cut herself off from her friends afterward? How emotionally involved was she in the new relationship?

I can only give this book 2 out of 4 stars. I spent most of the book frustrated, torn between wishing I knew Alex better and kind of being glad I didn't. That said, in many ways, there is realism here. Not all women in this situation can be strong, and not all “support systems” are supportive. This isn't the book for me, but I think there are people somewhere out there who might enjoy it or learn from it, so I’m not willing to write it off completely. For prospective readers, I've registered my opinion, but it is only that: an opinion. It didn't work for me, but that doesn't mean it can’t work for you.

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[Mido1009]

I plan to read his one