Review: The Care And Feeding Of Ravenously Hungry Girls, by Anissa Gray

The Care And Feeding Of Ravenously Hungry Girls, by Anissa Gray

Penguin Audio - 2019
General Fiction
Audiobook
Narrated by Bahni Turpin, January LaVoy, Adenrele Ojo, and Dominic Hoffman

9 Hours, 56 Minutes

My Rating (out of 5)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

A beautiful, poignant, and bitter-sweet novel about the ties that bind. An impressive, touching debut, well written and performed perfectly.

Althea and her siblings - sisters Viola and Lillian, and brother Joe, had a pretty rough life growing up.  Born to an overbearing, traveling preacher and his wife who died quite young, thrusting Althea into the role of mother-figure for her younger siblings.  The Butler children grew up carrying the emotional scars of their childhood with them, manifested as things like obsessive compulsive traits and eating disorders.

When Althea and her husband Proctor Cochrane - once pillars of the community, are arrested for embezzling money they raised for charity and tax evasion, the impact on the remaining Butler-Cochrane family is profound. Althea's siblings arrive at the family home to support Althea during sentencing and care for Althea and Proctor's two daughters - who are carrying scars of their own and showing their own self-destructive symptoms.

Ultimately this is a story of a family in crisis. About healing the wounds that can be healed, and letting go of those that cannot, of recognizing that "family" does not either begin or end with blood.

This audiobook version had a multi-performer cast, comprised of some of the most talented and best known in the business, all with incredible lists of credits to their names. They each performed brillianly and made listening to this audiobook an absolute pleasure.

 Cast of Narrators:
January LaVoy as Viola
Adenrele Ojo as Althea
Bahni Turpin as Lillian
Dominic Hoffman as Proctor

This debut novel has a wonderful, rich depth to it. I look forward to seeing more from Anissa Gray in the future.

Happy Reading,

Christine