3.5 stars but not quite 4 for me.

Every now and then, I read a book by an author from another country that was published in the language of that country and translated into English. When I do I often wonder if the translated version reflects what the author intended or reflects how good the writing might have been in the original language. I can’t say I was taken by the writing, but I was by the story. I was drawn to read this because of my friend Jaidee’s beautiful and powerful review. I didn’t love it as much as Jaidee, but I appreciated the story and I was moved. It’s a coming of age story of a young girl in a dysfunctional family and how the things that happened in her childhood impacted her life as she becomes a woman. It was heartbreaking at times and I couldn’t help but root for Mona every step of the way as we see her as a nine year old girl and then in her twenties and thirties in the next two parts or “acts”. But I can’t say I liked any of the other characters very much.

At nine when she loses her mother, Mona seems to intuitively respond by caring for her younger brother. She finds it hard to shed a tear, and perhaps we have an idea why, but yet she is clearly affected and confused about how she should feel, at one point thinking that she doesn’t know if she should feel happy when she’s reading a book. Part One was the most affecting for me as Mona and her brother survive what a consider questionable parenting on the part of her father. A stepmother who definitely has issues and constantly needs reassurance and acceptance, puts Mona in the position of having to cater to her stepmother’s emotional needs while setting aside her own. The turmoil in this family and in this little girl’s head is depicted in such a realistic way and I can only say how sad I was for this little girl.

In the second part Mona is forging her way in the theater world as a “dramaturge”. ( I had to look that up “a literary advisor or editor...who adapts scripts”.) She’s also struggling through relationships with men. Not much seems to have changed with Mona as she always seems to concede to those around her - her family, her boyfriend, her work associates. In the third part, in her thirties, when things about the past come to light through her father’s death bed conversations, I felt hopeful for Mona and that she might just find herself and her own voice. A powerful statement of how traumatic, or emotionally stifling events in the past can impact one for years to come. Even though I didn’t love it, it was worth reading.

You should read my friend Jaidee’s beautiful review which led me this book : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2775499364?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I received an advanced copy of this book from Amazon Crossing through NetGalley.

Thank you to AmazonCrossing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This contemporary novel centers around coming of age in a dysfunctional family, and shows how events in our childhood shape how we think, act and interact as adults. The story is told in three acts from the POV of Mona - as a young child of 9, as a young woman in her late 20s, and eleven years later. The author does a remarkable job of capturing the thoughts and feelings for Mona in each time period of her life - but most particularly as a young child. Unfortunately, Mona retains that naive childish outlook on life, which really got on my nerves after a while and made reading through the second and third part of the book a bit of a slog. Finally, at the very end, she grabs back her life, and makes what seems to be a promising turn toward happiness, by turning away from the manipulators that have controlled her life for so long.

Overall, this was very well-written, but about 150 pages too long for my taste.

The cover drew me in initially but the moment you read it, you realize that there is more than just judging a book by its cover. Mona's story was heartbreaking but its complexity is a standout. Themes featured in this book were hard to read but they written so beautifully you just can't help but be moved.

Mona in Three Acts was originally written by Griet Op De Beeck and later translated from Flemish to English. Since Dutch is my first language and that is very similar to Flemish, I could really tell at times that it was a translation. The way certain things are explained as well as certain sayings reflected the original language quite a bit. It was very recognisable for me, which I thought was fun.

The story is about Mona and we learn about her at three different stages in her life. First as a young girl of about ten years old, then as a young adult of about 24 and finally as a grown woman of 35. For me, the first stage was the most interesting one. Mona makes so many wise observations for a small girl that it made me wonder whether kinds truly understand that much of what is going on. Additionally, I think it’s incredible to see how parents can screw up the ideas and thoughts of children without even realising it. Mona’s paradigm of the world is completely distorted because of how she is treated and it shows throughout her entire life.

As the book continued and showed us more about Mona as a grown-up I was constantly waiting for her to realise how screwed up she had become and I really wanted her to throw her life around and live for herself more. To do what would make her happy. That didn’t happen until the last ten pages or so. It sort of just went on and on and on.

In the end I wasn’t very excited about this book. Not enough happened to keep me interested for the 449 pages that this book contains.

Mona in Three Acts will be in my top ten books this year, My heart ached and I was horrified. I laughed and cried because I know a Mona, but this book, it demands to be read. Thank you NetGalley for opportunity to read for a fair review.

'Lying is a national sport in our family. We learned it when we were little and it’s gotten into our bodies like blood and water for other people.'

Mona in three acts is an emotional journey, maybe too downhearted and crawling for some readers but it clicked with me. This is a novel about the way we are shaped by our families, not often for the best. Three Acts, part one and it is 1976 when Mona says, “They say your eyes get used to the dark”, from a tiny room in the corner of the basement. She’s in trouble again with her mother, she is not the good kid, that’s her brother Alexander’s role. The punishment feels excessive to the reader, as Mona sits in that dark space fearful of mommy’s wrath. Mona seems to be nothing but a disappointment simply for existing, a hard woman obviously as Mona is only 9, stricter with Mona “because I needed it” and then she exits the family in a tragic instant. She’ll never be able to prove to her mother she is a good girl. Her maternal Grandmother knows what the children need to recover and that is order, routine so steps in to take care of them all until… daddy gets sick of her meddling and judging.

Mona’s father wants them to meet a very special visitor even though only months have passed since their Mommy’s death, a woman named Marie who is fated to become their new mommy. Things aren’t going to get any easier. Some children get to be children and some, like Mona, have to fuss over the grown ups. Stuck in the middle with her maternal grandmother’s disgust for her father’s speedy new marriage and not wanting to invoke her father’s displeasure, she stuffs down her own feelings. Marie is emotionally demanding, quick to tears, feeling the family isn’t grateful for all the effort she puts forth as their new mother. It is here that Mona learns to fake happiness, to put her best face forward and make sure that Marie is, at all costs, appreciated. Weight is piled on her shoulders and with her father’s distant nature, this marriage and Marie’s pregnancy is more Mona’s cross to bear, already involved in nurturing her brother Alexander she is caring for the newest addition, because Marie needs rest. It’s all just too much for Marie, right? Everything has always felt like Mona’s fault, more so now. If someone is unhappy, storms off, feels sad, it’s because of her. The weight of the world.

Mona’s twenties find her feeling ‘defined by the things she is not’, though there is hope working in theater. She becomes a ‘dramaturge’ for one of the most important theater directors. It’s a world away from her family, but somehow they still seep into her life. She accepts love in f half-measures, it’s what she learned growing up around first, her mother Agnes, her disapproving Grandma after the accident and lastly her replacement mommy Marie and her disinterested father. As for her lover Lois, why not stay with him? If his touch doesn’t set her on fire, well it’s okay. If he is self-centered, not fully in the relationship, well he must have his reasons, it’s still love. He is a writer, it demands all of his focus, attention, surely she has to understand that? Life has never cared much for the state of her well being, not even her own important work is enough to give her the confidence to define herself as something more than what her family or lover has decided she is. She has been surrounded by difficult characters, whose only constant is their theatrics, which may well have prepared her for her job. So much of her life has been packed away, much like her own mother Agnes whom really is more a faded memory, never to be spoken of as not to upset Marie. Her father has been, though, almost as absent as the dead. I know it comes off as a lot of whingeing, and many readers will think ‘hell, pick yourself up and make the life you want’, and some people are strong enough, confident enough to do it and say ‘the hell with the lot of you.’ But during the formative years, some people shrink deeper into themselves and start believing the version their family has decided they are meant to be. They learn to be pleasing, to convince themselves that any scrap is enough. They want more for others forgetting themselves in the process and you see this in how she cares for her brother Alexander and half sister Anne Marie. It’s strange how in many families, there is often one person (more if you’re unlucky) like Marie, who can strike fear into everyone, why do we succumb to such abuse, long after we have the freedom to walk away? Physical abuse is easier to recognize, it’s those that distort our versions of ourselves that are hardest to expose, especially when everyone else is so good at playing along, ‘keeping the peace’. I absolutely understand such people with their ‘toxic unhappiness’, how like a disease, a disaster.

Part three takes us to the heart of Mona’s relationship with her father. It is relief to understand the why of things, but it changes nothing of what children suffer through. For the reader as much as Mona her father has been absent, a non-entity whom only seems to hide and let others deal with the difficult situations. Mona has to learn sometime to toughen up, to demand what she deserves, because if you just keep lying down and taking it, people will never stop walking all over you. It may come late, but she may just learn to stand up and stop excusing the selfishness of others and walk on until she finds something better. This isn’t a happy novel, Mona’s life has been a misery that she hasn’t understood how to climb out of, but there is hope for us all. If you ever wanted to understand what goes on inside the mind of a pleaser, you are privy to it from childhood on. Mona’s voice as a child was genuine, I felt so sorry for her. It’s a fiction that childhood is the happiest time in the lives of all, there are so many Monas out there, it makes you sick to think of it. I wonder, had her mother lived, though difficult she was, would Mona have rebelled eventually? Become someone else entirely? Just a thought.

Publication Date: November 12, 2019

AmazonCrossing

It took me a while to get into this novel of family dynamics and family dysfunction, but I found it exerted more and more of a grip on me as the narrative progressed and by the end I was fully invested in the characters and felt great empathy for them. As the title suggests, the story is in three parts, the first being set in Mona’s childhood, the second when she is in her twenties and the third in her thirties. It was the first part I had the most trouble with as everything is seen through the child’s perception and I simply didn’t find the voice convincing. However, once the novel got into its stride with Mona as an adult, then her point of view became compelling and often very moving. The book opens with the death of her mother in a car crash, and although the mother was a troubled soul, naturally the loss of her parent affects Mona deeply, a situation not helped by the arrival of a stepmother who brings to the situation her own difficult and demanding character. Thereafter Mona has to work hard to develop any self-esteem and self-knowledge, and this struggle is brought vividly and empathetically to life. The novel is well-paced, with excellent characterisation and believable relationships, and narrated with great intelligence and insight.

I was excited to read this book.... I’ve enjoy other books from the Netherlands.
Belgium is bordered by the Netherlands.
So, as soon as I learned about this book - [Thank You, Jaidee...>her review and passion for this book is heartfelt and wonderful], .....I downloaded a copy myself.

“Mona In Three Acts” was ‘surprisingly’ much longer than other novels I’ve read from this region of the world. I felt it was too long. The translation was fine...but there were pages upon pages of very ordinary descriptions of daily life.....so much so ....that after awhile- ordinary ( something I usually love, as ordinary is ‘real’).... was TOO ORDINARY....
I appreciated Mona’s Innocence- vulnerability - and her grief from having lost her biological mother as a young girl - but I began to tire of Mona’s child voice.....and the dialogue. I teetered back-and-forth between compassion for Mona and being bored myself.

I appreciated a lot about this story, .....( how these characters felt- how Mona handled abuse and neglect - etc.), ....but I also felt grumpy - at times.
As a 67 year old reading this book —I got itchy with pages of explanations of things I already knew. I know what a cardiologist is. I’ve seen the movie “The Sound of Music” enough times - that to read an entire chapter about the movie - Mona explaining it to her six year old brother...just felt annoying:

Then there were parts - where I paused....feeling annoyed & puzzled by the ‘choice’ of visuals...
Here’s an example:
“I’d like to share my food with the children in Africa, especially when it’s Belgian endive, or when Marie has cooked pork chops that are so dry and chewy you could beat a small animal to death with them”.

Beat a dead animal??? Why did Mona pick such a phrase?
I’ll tell you why...
Our little 9 year old protagonist - Mona - over heard her daddy say it when Marie ( stepmother), wasn’t around.
Mona thought it was secretly funny. I didn’t.

Following Mona’s life from a child to an adult....400 plus pages...became too daunting for me. My patients were being tested.

The author definitely can tap into our emotions - but with the combination of the writing itself being simplistic... ( a few emotional outbursts)...and the book’s length ...
I felt a lot was being asked from adult readers.....
If this book was 200 pages shorter....I may have enjoyed this more.

I do applaud the author’s insights into complex human relationships....exploring universal themes.

Mona in Three Acts is the first novel by well-known Flemish author Griet Op de Beeck to be translated into English, and the first one I read both in translation, as well as in its original Dutch. Many thanks to the publisher AmazonCrossing for providing me with an early copy of the former.

As with most of Griet Op de Beecks books, Mona in Three Acts is a literary contemporary novel, that centres around coming of age in a slightly dysfunctional family-unit. As the title would imply, we follow Mona in a story that is split into 3 parts with a substantial time jump in between each of them.
In part 1, we get to know her as a 9-year old, shortly after the death of her mother, coping with the fact that her father is getting remarried. We see her navigate her way around all these new emotions and see her relationship with her stepmother and stepsiblings play out.
In part 2, her story continues when Mona is around 25 when she moves in with her boyfriend and faces the first struggles in her starting career.
In part 3, Mona returns home to take care of her father on his sickbed and many puzzle pieces of the last years begin to fall into place.

I have to commend the novel for its consistency- and build up of characters. We see how the way that Mona was brought up influences the way she forms relationships later in life, which makes up the central theme of the novel. Not just Mona, but the other reappearing characters follow this line. All of them have distinct personalities and all of them are just the right amount of flawed to be realistic, but not too unlikable.
That being said, the nature of this novels theme almost directly prevents character growth in the main character. Op de Beeck writes children does an exceptional job at writing from a childs perspective, which is why I probably enjoyed part 1 the most. Unfortunately, Mona retains that naïve childish outlook throughout the rest of the novel, which got on my nerves quite fast.
My second problem, which is also inherently linked to the theme this novel goes for, is that everything is so oversimplified. Yes, people are creatures of habit, that have a tendency to stick to the same patterns. Yet the way the author psychoanalyses her character down to a single thing in her past just rubs me the wrong way. As a literary device, it treads the thin line between “character background” and “psychology for dummies”. As an outlook on life, it completely removes all agency from the person and labels them as a victim of their past, rather than an individual capable of taking responsibility for their own life.

As a final note I’d like to say that I actually enjoyed the English translation more than I did the original. Op de Beeck has a tendency to try a little too hard when writing dialogue, which results in overly-directed, “too profound” sentences that feel out of place in the mouths of the characters that deliver them. I think the translator did an excellent job of bending them into a more moderate form, without losing the core of the message.

This novel is out in Dutch under the original title “Kom hier dat ik u kus” by Prometheus, and will be released in November 2019 via AmazonCrossing in it’s English translation.

Mona in Three Acts follows our title character Mona through three different stages in her life. She is a tragic figure and her hardships in life are shown throughout the novel. The eldest of three children, Mona has trouble adapting after her mother's untimely death and we read about her family dysfunction which impacts her life, following how she adapts and copes with these circumstances.

This book was a bit of a struggle to get through. I didn't feel much of a connection with any characters and the tone of the book brought me down. It is just melancholy and depressing with an attempt at a more positive and satisfying ending. But for me I wasn't able to enjoy it as I had found myself getting more and more sad throughout the book. I love when books make me feel all the feels, but this just did nothing to make me feel better and I really struggled.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First I'd like to thank Net Galley, the author and publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review. This book was first released in 2014 by this Flemish author in Belgium and is due for it"s American release in Nov. 2019. It is the story of an eldest daughter at 3 different ages which is what the title refers to. She is the product of family dysfunction and the novel traces how she adapts and copes to her circumstances. It is a slow read and I had difficulty connecting with the characters, cultural differences perhaps . It's sad, melancholic and eventually somewhat redeeming but it really left me with just sadness. I am so tired of the endless abuses being inflicted on children by their parents and how the cyle continues. Perhaps that's my real problem with this novel. 3.5

5 "superlative, heartbreakingly funny and sad" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, Amazon Crossing and the author for this book. I am offering this review in exchange.

Wow and whew !

This book was originally published in 2014 in Belgium and its English translation is due out in November 2019.

This book is about Mona. Middle-class Mona. Creative and loving Mona. Mona who struggles with her self-worth, her identity and her ability to be independent. We see Mona at three points in her life. As a young child who is loved but neglected and sometimes cruelly abused. Mona as a young woman who yearns for love but sacrifices too much. Mona in her thirties who finally comes into her own and makes courageous decisions to live for herself and more importantly to love herself.

Ms. Op de Beeck is a writer of immense talent. I cannot think of a book that I have read in recent years that was so genuinely able to get into the mind, body and spirit of a young child. The anxieties, the misunderstandings and the need to please. The insecurities of young womanhood and the blossoming of personhood as she encounters losses of both a minor and major kind.

My partner would watch me laugh out loud one moment and then sob unabashedly in another. A book of tremendous authenticity, love and the ties that bind us to those we cherish and those we fear and those we may dislike immensely.

Mona will be on my mind for a very long time and in my heart forever.

Thank you Ms. Op de Beeck for a work of immense joy, a work of tremendous sadness and a work that assists one in their own life journey.

This is one of my favourite books I've read this year.

I absolutely loved everything about this book, its complexity, character progression and lack thereof.
The stagnancy in which Mona leads her everyday life is compelling and drives the story as she becomes something of a spectator in her own life. We, as the reader watch she ages and is aged by the world around her in three very different periods of her life. Making for a story that could rival that of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in the way a life story is structured. But this book offers a more focused look into chapters that define Mona's life for different reasons rather than giving the reader s a full and cohesive story, we are left to piece together what happened in those missing years and the reasons for these changes. In the later chapters, you find out the reasons for things that didn't quite make sense earlier in the story. This book shows how first-person narration should be done.

Each of the characters is interesting and involve Mona in their own narrative. Cycles of abuse, unhealthy relationships and fears over ambition all come together to offer an in-depth look into the protagonist's mind in this excellent character study.

Preorder now at https://www.amazon.com/Mona-Three-Acts-Griet-Beeck/dp/1542005442
for only $14.95 (USD) to receive it by the 12th Nov 2019

The writing style of Griet Op de Beeck lends itself perfectly to this compulsively readable masterpiece.

I loved this one even though I went into it quite skeptical. You could barely tell it was a translation to English which I struggle with sometimes as a Native English speaker. I loved how it progresses and changes in writing style and format as the book goes on as she matures as well. Though the underlying message and thoughts remain the same and grow even worse and worse as her situation grows and her mental awareness and experiences change. It was very touching and I connected really closely with this book and would for sure recommend it.

What a wonderful explosion of emotions and family dynamics. The writing style is beautiful and inviting , full of tremendous metaphors and descriptions. This book draws you into the heart of Mona's family which is filled with trauma, dysfunctional parents, stepmother and siblings. I felt like cheering when Mona eventually gains insight into what life and love could mean for her thus breaking her free from the embedded belief that she should placate and make everyone else happy. A great read.

I wasn't too sure about this novel when I started but by the second part I was hooked. This novel is not only brilliantly translated but it is an excellently structured bildungsroman with so much depth. Just as the title suggest, we get to know Mona in three critical stages of her life: childhood, her twenties and her thirties.

I loved the fact that this novel really got me on side with some of the characters and made me hate some of the others. A tenuous father-daughter relationship, a melodramatic step-mother, romance and grief all feature in this stunning family portrait.

Thank you Net Galley and Amazon Crossing for this book.

I found this book difficult as I felt bad for the main character, Mona. I found that she didn't have an adult to turn to growing up which impacted her later in life in her relationships.


I found Mona's stepmother, Marie hard-to-take and a bit over the top, and dramatic. I was glad that her Father gave Mona what she needed at the end.

i feel that it seemed like it was Mona in more than 3 acts more like 4 or 5. Maybe because this was translated?


I did enjoy the book overall and look forward to hear what others think.

I enjoyed the book and really liked it. Waiting to hear more from the author. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc.

Mona’s demanding mother ruled their home until a car crash took her life and changed their family forever. Left to tend to a distant father and a needy younger brother, Mona finds her new role almost too much to bear. And when a new stepmother, troubled and depressed, adds yet another crack to the family portrait, Mona’s forced to shoulder an even greater share of the emotional burden.

Somewhere between her responsibility to her family and to her own life, Mona finds a route of escape: in a theater career, she craves. But for every challenge ahead—romantic, professional, sexual, and familial—Mona wonders how much of her future has already been defined by the challenges of her past.

An emotional, funny, and universal novel about the people, experiences, and choices that make us who we are, Mona in Three Acts is a revelatory journey of a woman’s self-discovery, forgiveness, and courage to finally speak her truth.

I enjoyed Mona in Three Acts. It is a book with all you want, humor, forgiveness, betrayal and becoming all Mona can be. Very good.