Mending the Moon, by Susan Palwick (2013)

Mending the Moon is a novel that tackles difficult subject matter.  In the aftermath of Melinda Soto's murder, her three best friends and adopted son deal with the consequences of this terrible act.  Elsewhere, the murderer's parents have their own issues to deal with, as their son commits suicide shortly after returning from Mexico, where the murder took place.

Interspersed within the novel are chapters concerning a comic book that a number of the characters enjoy, "Comrade Cosmos".  I felt that the first few chapters that dealt with Cosmos were a distraction from the main story.  But then Archipelago Osprey is introduced.  She sounds like a difficult person to get along with, given her characterization.  But for whatever reason, I like her and I find her to be quite compelling.  Her arc is believable and intriguing.

The Cosmos chapters are a bit lighter in tone.  Sure, Cosmos deals with disasters and drinks Guinness with his only friend to get away from it all. But on the whole, something about his chapters just seems less emotional, less engaging.

One thing I found amusing was the number of references to things that exist in the "real world".  The above mention of Guinness is one of them.  Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday party is another (though that one's fictional, it still exists, in some sense, in this world).  Some of them seem...well, a bit unnecessary.  But on the whole, I thought it was a good tactic in building a world that is indeed much like ours, if not the very same.

While I'm unsure about Melinda, I think the characters of Veronique, Rosemary, and Henrietta have their origins in Palwick herself.  As far as I can tell, pieces of the author were taken to create them.  A recent concern of mine has been how to write characters that are three-dimensional rather than "cardboard cutouts".  I haven't reached any definite conclusions in that area yet.  But it is evident that the characters in the novel are three-dimensional; they could be real people.  They are complex and deal with real problems that plague us in the "real world".  They might not be superheroes like Comrade Cosmos (though he's mostly realistic), but that's okay.

In the end, there's not much resolution to be found.  In this way, Mending the Moon is an analogue to life as we live it; we don't live in a fairy tale, and Palwick doesn't condescend to us by telling us that we do.  The emotions and conflicts are real and are dealt with accordingly.  That means that Mending the Moon can be a difficult read.  Still, I think it is a good one.