All's Well

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AWAD: Yeah, it is. It’s very difficult. Because I am interested in that kind of moral ambiguity. Because obviously, I mean, Miranda is a woman. Miranda is human. We are just complicated that way, morally. We can be unlikable. A lot of our thoughts are dark and awful, and I love characters that kind of allow us to sort of see that openly, especially female characters. It’s just there’s something very, very freeing about it. So, I relished her villainy. The main character Miranda is a college theater director. In her younger years, she was a performer on stage, but after an accident left her seeking help for her "invisible pain" the doctors doubted and thought she was a delusional pain pill popper she left the stage to teach it. I felt guilty for laughing at someone else's misfortune, but this was well-developed humor and insight into her mind and thought process. Some of it was disturbing and desperate, but most of the time I was laughing out loud.

When it got closer to the end, it changed. I couldn't tell what was real. I couldn't tell where Miranda was in time, space, what was happening to her? Was she dreaming? Hallucinating? And it never revealed itself, at least not in my opinion. So, I got to the end and felt like I didn't have a conclusion.Wow! I enjoyed Mona Awad's Bunny, so I've had All's Well on my list of books I want to read since I heard it was coming out and this book definitely lived up to my expectations.

Strange... extraordinary...frustrating...blurry... illusionary...disturbing...sad...delirious...wild...different ...original...exhausting...dark...depressing ...weird...complex...conflicted... Nerdy Latin Language Fact: The name Miranda is derived from the Latin ‘mirari’ and in this gerundive form means she who is to be admired, to be amazed at. I don’t know if the author specifically chose the name ‘Miranda’ for her main character with this in mind, but either way, it is genius and very fitting.

So if you loved 🐰 ...well this isn't Bunny..🐰but I think you will love it...if you didn't love Bunny...🐰well I think you will like this... BOGAEV: But before they do, they recite the top of Helen’s monologue from Act one, “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, which we ascribe to heaven.” Now, when I read this, I wondered if this whole thing was all in Miranda’s fevered brain. This whole thing with the witches, since she’s teaching All’s Well and is also thinking about Macbeth. So, it’s almost like you’re walking this razor edge with us between delusion or hallucination and outright magic, which is also very exciting somehow. Listen to more authors on Shakespeare Unlimited,including Mark Haddon, Julie Schumacher, and Edward St. Aubyn. Then another voice follows. Decisive. Brisk. But there is love in there somewhere, or so I tell myself.