Book Review :: Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
Review by Kevin Brown
Soldier Sailor, Claire Kilroy’s most recent novel, is clear-eyed in its portrayal of motherhood, especially during the challenging first few years. The mother in this work—known only as Soldier—addresses her son—the Sailor of the title—throughout, explaining to him why she behaved the way she did when he was younger. She tells him that she used to be a different person, and she will be a different person again, but the sleep deprivation and constant demands of raising a young child have changed her, especially in her inability to think clearly.
She could be different if her husband helped with any aspect of her life, whether that’s directly taking care of their son or cooking dinner or doing absolutely anything to make her days easier. Not only does he not help her, he seems oblivious to her feelings and her state of being, and he definitely doesn’t notice the change their marriage has undergone.
Kilroy provides a contrast to Soldier’s husband in a friend she runs into at the playground, somebody who knew her before she had a son, a man who’s taking care of his three children, while his wife works as a doctor. Through that juxtaposition, the reader can clearly see that Kilroy isn’t critiquing men, in general, but the vast majority of them who do little to nothing to participate in the care of their children.
Her main focus, though, is simply on the realities of being a mother, one day after another, with all of the constant demands and the lack of appreciation. That focus is more than enough and more than needed.
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy. Scribner, June 2024.
Reviewer bio: Kevin Brown has published three books of poetry: Liturgical Calendar: Poems (Wipf and Stock); A Lexicon of Lost Words (winner of the Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry, Snake Nation Press); and Exit Lines (Plain View Press). He also has a memoir, Another Way: Finding Faith, Then Finding It Again, and a book of scholarship, They Love to Tell the Stories: Five Contemporary Novelists Take on the Gospels. Twitter @kevinbrownwrites
