Name All the Animals Response #3

1. I recently finished the novel, Name All the Animals by Alison Smith. I felt the whole book was pretty easy to read, since it certainly kept my attention. Something about reading this woman's life story kept me hooked as I remembered that all of these terrible things really happened to her. I am all for Gay Rights, and when Alison's mother told her that lesbians will burn in hell, I was shocked. I really thought the character of her mother was much more open minded with her daughter, especially after losing one of her kids already. I also wasn't expecting Alison to get so involved with Terri, so that was a very unexpected part of the book.
I do wish that in the epilogue that Alison Smith told us more about her conversation with Terri on the phone after all of those years. I wondered if Terri was mad about the book, since it got so personal about both of them. The ending was hard to read, since it slowed down a LOT, and it ended so suddenly without really wrapping it up. I was left with questions like, do her parents know she's a lesbian? Did she ever see Terri again? I was also confused about her putting food out for Roy. I hope she realized later that it was just a dog eating it, not the ghost of her brother. Reading a story set in my hometown was strange, too. Not bad, just strange, since when I read books I usually can't relate to places, or picture them so clearly in my mind. I enjoyed reading this book, but I do wish we were warned about some later themes in the novel.

2. I really enjoyed the character of Alison's father. He was not comical relief, or even a big character. He was just a dad, doing things for his daughter that used to be so normal for him before Roy passed away, like teaching Alison to drive, and doing his morning blessings. After Roy died, Alison lost her faith in God, so she put her foot down about father's morning blessings. That really hurt her father, since it was the only normality he still  had in his life. But he kept quiet, letting his daughter grow and try new things. I personally think he knew she was a lesbian, since he never tried to push boys onto her like her mother did.
The scenes where her father takes her driving make me tense. I can see them in the car, quiet except for her father talking about sights in Rochester, and maybe his memories there. After Roy's death, he was clearly too scared to actually let her, or see her drive. I couldn't imagine his feelings if he saw his daughter driving away, like Roy did the morning of the car accident. Her father is the silent supporter, letting Alison grow and do what she needs to do. He's like the backbone of the family, especially for mother. I don't think either Alison or her mother could have made it without him.