Carrie Soto Is Back
"Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles-and if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan. At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media say that they never liked "the Battle-Axe" anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it used to. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever."
Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid presents another strong, female character in a world that is designed against her. Carrie Soto is the definition of fierce determination. She doesn't care about the press or the optics, she is only here to show the world what she already knows-that she's the goddamn best tennis player the world has ever seen.
Her career has been more than successful. After a knee injury and twenty Slam titles to her name, Carrie Soto retires. When her record is threatened, she barrels out of retirement with the intention of participating in all four Slams against her opponent, Nicki Chan.
Carrie has always been icy and cold, not keen in any sense of the word on making friends. It's never been an issue for her with her father as her coach, she never needed anyone else. This is a tale of combatting pride, learning the true meaning of legacy, and remembering that there is more to sport than competition. There is more to life than self-inflicted lonliness. Carrie was never one to think she was worthy of love from another person, so she closed herself off from it.
Carrie breaks down her walls to each of these pivotal spices of life, brick by brick. I particularly enjoyed the paralell between Carrie playing at Wimbleton in London, glancing at Princess Diana for a brief bit. She recalls to herself that the two of them are alike, and they are here. They will not let the world cast them aside.
Jenkins Reid has done it again through her reinvention of powerful women. This one is speculated to be based on Serena Williams and other famous named in women's tennis. It is my hope that Jenkins Reid continues with these narratives.
She's the best in the whole damn game.