Download Boekverslag Engels Working for love door Tessa Dahl The book

Boekverslag Engels Working for love door Tessa Dahl
The book WORKING FOR LOVE was written by Tessa Dahl. It has 151 pages and was
first published in 1988 by Joseph, London. I've read the second publication, published
in 1989 by Penguin books Great Britain.
The story takes place particularly in London, Great Britain, but also in America (New
York and Florida)
The story takes place in this time, the main character, Molly, tells the story of her life, I
think she must be about fifty right now. The story takes place from +/- 1960 till 1988.
Although the time in which the story takes place isn't very important.
The language was very pleasant to read. I was surprised about my own English
vocabulary, I didn't know that I knew so many words. I could understand everything,
which was really great.
SUMMARY
Molly is the second child of Rachel and Roald Dahl. Their first child Mary, was the
most beloved one, Molly always stood in her shadow. Molly tries hard to get in favour
of her father, but nothing seems to work, Mary is prettier, sweeter, and better in
anything then Molly is. When Molly gets a little brother, Mathew, she feels totally out
of the picture. Her mother was a busy, famous actress and her father was becoming a
famous writer. Although their busy life's they're quite happy. Until Mary dies because of
the measles
Roald becomes a very sad and cold man because of the dead of his most beloved
daughter. Molly tries everything to look like Mary but it was hopeless, e.g. Mary was
always singing songs with her father, but Molly can't sing. She feels really useless.
When her mother gets a heavy stroke, Molly realizes that her father needed someone to
take over the household, so she takes that part, trying to make her father love her. She
becomes a real mother for her little brother and a caring wife for her father. As if
everything isn't bad enough, Molly's half-paralyzed mother is pregnant. A woman who
behaves like a child is giving birth to one.
She gets a little sister, Fanny, a really adorable girl. Molly's part as a mother is needed
more and more, and she loves it, until she gets anorexia and faint while cooking a meal
for her father. Her father realizes that she will loose her childhood if she goes on like
this, so he sent her to a boarding school. Molly doesn't have a nice time on this school,
and when she comes home every weekend, she feels not very welcome. She becomes a
woman, and because she didn't get much love from her father, she now tries to find it in
a man. She gets a lot of men, but they didn't really love her, she was only right for sex.
When she founds out that her father was cheating her mother, she was so upset that she
left the house, and goes to a man called Peter. That was the biggest mistake of her life
because he slaps the hell out of her. Once, when she tried to go back home, he slaps her
almost till she is unconscious and calls her father to pick her up. When she's home
again, her father's mistress takes really good care of her, Molly thinks she does that to
keep her mouth shut and she's right. But her mother does find out her husband is
cheating on her and leaves. After a while Molly gets to know another man called Jack.
He's a rich, good looking nice man and Molly really thinks she has found "the one". She
would do everything for this man if only he loves her, and they marry. After a few years
she isn't as happy as in the beginning, Jack wants to control her, dominate her, tell her
what's right and wrong, and live her by his rules. He tells her that she's worth nothing
without him, and that she can't live a life on her own, and she believes it.
She's totally depended of him, does everything to receive just a bit of love but it is never
enough.
He leaves her a few times and also comes back, saying he's sorry for everything he has
done to her. She finds out that he needed her as much as she needs him and start to get
control of her life. Jack can't live with a grown up woman, he needs to dominate, he
can't live without having control. She decides not being a part anymore of his game and
when he leaves her again, he can't come back again.
The book ends with:
I followed you Jack. My eyes were filling with tears.
'Molly, grow up.'
And I did, eventually. And you didn't like it, did you, Jack?
But I do.
I really do.
MAIN CHARACTER
Molly is a really pretty and sweet woman. She's addicted to love of men; she can't live
without it. She always felt that her father doesn't really love her and that has hurt her
terribly. When she gave up fighting for her father's love, she started fighting for the love
of other men.
Not realising that she wouldn't get what she was looking for (what you search isn't what
you shall find) she suffered and suffered until she founds out this wasn't the right way of
living, and starts to love and accept herself.
MINOR CHARACTERS
Roald is a really strong but also little weird man. His wife earned the money and he
sang songs with Mary and tells stories in the garden to his children. Although he seems
a man who does everything well thought, he's a very sensitive man who's having a hard
time to express his feelings. He can't just hold his children and say he loves them, but I
think he does love them.
Jack seems a man who has everything under control and is totally happy with himself.
But that's just for outsiders, he might be a good businessman but he knows nothing
about 'people management', he has really low social instincts, does everything for
money and nothing for people. Molly covers this side of him, because that's her strong
side. That's why he needs her so much.
I really love this book because it tells a lot about being a woman. I think that a lot of
women recognise themselves in Molly (as I do), because we all need love, and even
want to fight for it. I was really touched by one sentence in the book, what a
fortune-teller said to molly:
'Remember Molly, anyone who makes you work for their love is not worthy of it.' I
think the only real love will just happen to you, you don't have to search for it, it'll come
to you. And when you've found it, you don't have to do anything to please your love,
just existing must be enough. You see, I really loved to read this book and it didn't took
me long, for about 4 hours. I would certainly recommend this book to my female
classmates, because I think they would recognise themselves too in this book, but only
if they had some experiences with love already. My male classmates wouldn't be
interested in this book, because they're not grown up enough for it.
Tessa Dahl lives in the country, close to where her father Roald Dahl lived, with her
three children and two dogs. Her ambition is to be a midwife. She has worked as an
actress, model and PR girl before turning to writing and journalism. Her articles have
appeared in Vogue, Living, House and Garden, Woman's journal and You Magazine.
Working for Love is her first novel and it's part autobiographical and part fiction. Tessa
doesn't blame anyone, because they made her who she is right now.