Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with a copy of Mona Awad’s novel, All’s Well, in exchange for an honest review.
Miranda Fitch’s life has been on a downward spiral ever since her promising thespian career was cut short by trauma suffered from a fall off of a stage during a performance. She suffers from chronic pain that no mainstream doctor or alternative form of therapy can cure. Miranda is addicted to pain pills and it doesn’t help that she drinks to excess. Her husband has left her and her job as a drama teacher at a small college is in jeopardy.
Against the wishes of her students, including Briana, a queen bee type who is always given the lead roles due to her rich parent’s donations, Miranda goes forward with mounting a spring production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, rather than MacBeth. All’s Well That Ends Well was the play that ended Miranda’s career, and despite the continued escalation of her misfortunes, Miranda is hell-bent on making it work.
Just when it seems that all is lost and Miranda might have to cave to the wishes of her students, she meets three unusual men in a bar. After a night of heavy drinking, where she isn’t sure what exactly transpired, Miranda is seemingly cured of her ailments. Her boss announces that anonymous benefactors have donated a large sum of money to the theatre department, contingent on Miranda continuing with her production. And in a final bizarre twist, Miranda’s pain seems to have mysteriously transferred to Briana, who is now in such bad shape that the lead role must be recast. Miranda is elated, but in the back of her mind she fears that she might be mixed up in something quite sinister.
I love the theatre and even graduated from a performing arts high school. For these reasons, the premise of Awad’s novel carried a high appeal for me. One of the strongest elements is Miranda’s character voice. She’s punchy and sarcastic with off-beat observations both about herself and the world around her. I laughed out loud many times. The humor is excellent.
It has been a long time since I have read All’s Well That Ends Well and I felt like my lack of memory of the Shakespeare play might have led to me missing out on some of the jokes or other nods. I’m not sure if I actually missed anything, but I wish I had the play fresher in my mind.
Miranda is a highly unreliable narrator, which makes for a fascinating read. I was never sure if she was actually experiencing the events, if it was a dream, or if she was imagining them due to her injuries and/or drugged state. I suspect she had head trauma, in addition to her addition and other pain.
The flip side of this, is it meant that we spent the entire book living her nightmare, and personally, I found it occasionally difficult to keep engaged. I wasn’t very interested in her continued dive into an increasingly odd situation. The story turns eccentric fast. Towards the end, her journey turns into a hellish performance art piece, which made me tune out. I was trying to figure out why I felt this way and I think it’s kind of like when someone tells you about a dream they had and the way the actual dream is nowhere near as intriguing as the reasons behind the dream in the first place. I found the reason for Miranda’s mental decline far more interesting, than witnessing the decline play out.
This said, I would definitely recommend All’s Well. Awad created a unique premise with strong characters. Miranda’s dry humor is really fabulous. All’s Well is a wild ride for theatre and Shakespeare lovers.