Susan is a strategic planner. She is efficient and thorough to the point of being considered quirky. All Susan wants is what she’s planned for years, but every turn these days seems to bring new surprises that do not please her at all. Her mother recently passed and the results of the will were completely unexpected. She’s also dealing with her own impending and unplanned motherhood, along with a partner who just won’t go along with the plans for how the pregnancy and the aftermath should be dealt with. When family drama takes over her life, she finds comfort and community in ways she never would have dreamed of and learns that failed plans don’t mean failure in life – just a redirection.
Sarah Haywood’s debut novel The Cactus draws on her own professional experience in law. A celebrity book club favorite, this novel received accolades from Reese Witherspoon among others. This is a book about leaning into the chaos and learning that so many beautiful moments and connections can be found in the unexpected turns life takes. This is a story about the community we build for ourselves and the meaning of true familial love.
I give The Cactus 3 out of 5 stars. I have to admit – this was very close to a 4 star rating, but I just couldn’t give it full marks in any categories. I appreciate where Haywood went with this story and loved the twists the plot took at times, but something just felt missing from the characters. I did note a few errors in some of the gardening and maternal medicine items, but nothing that detracted from the overall meaning of the book. Set in London, American readers may also find some of the legal process hard to follow. While similar to American estate law, the British laws are slightly different and I found myself researching them to make sure I understand what the writer was trying to convey. With that said, I do feel like this book was made for the small screen. This could easily be a TV movie or miniseries I would definitely watch, but it also means the book is lacking some depth for what I prefer. I did find the main character hard to read in some scenes – she is so quirky and socially awkward it is almost painful. As a parent of a child with autism, I see where she was going with some of the quirkiness, but I think it could have been conveyed in a way that was more palatable and less annoying.
With discussions of parental loss and estate law, this book may be triggering for some. I would also caution readers sensitive to pregnancy or pregnancy loss – there is a scene towards the end of the book revolving around a potential loss that could be triggering. However, if you like Curtis Sittenfeld’s writing or books like Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton, this is a great book for you! There is some mystery, lots of family drama, and a little romance along the way.
I chose The Cactus for the Read With Lindsey 2024 Reading Challenge prompt “about a mother-child relationship”. While the main character’s mother is not alive for much of the book, this novel deals with the impact the mother had on her children throughout their lives. The writer also delves into the impact of adoption and birth parents, as well as the main character’s own maternal decisions. This was a great choice for the theme, but definitely not one of my favorite books so far this month. What are you reading in preparation for Mother’s Day?
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: There’s No Coming Back From This, Ann Garvin
- Current audio book: The Beach at Summerly, Beatriz Williams
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Legends of the Fall, Jim Harrison
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