I found the author's style annoying, distracting, and in need of a good edit.The novel was rife with lengthy sentences strung together with the conjunI found the author's style annoying, distracting, and in need of a good edit.The novel was rife with lengthy sentences strung together with the conjunction "and". Four "ands" in a single sentence were typical, five "ands" were not uncommon, and I counted a few sentences with eight to ten "ands". Since this is a novel apparently narrated by a 13-year-old boy, Frank, or a middle-aged Frank remembering the summer of his 13-year-old self, perhaps the author was aiming for a naive presentation. Even so, there seemed poor stylistic control. As for the story itself, which concerned the mysterious death of the boy's 18-year-old sister, Ariel (a character who is never really alive for the reader before her untimely death) it was okay, but nothing, in my opinion, meriting a four-star rating. This was a relatively predictable mystery with homey, Kent-Haruf-like, pseudo-spiritual/philosophical touches--which mainly crept in through Krueger's depiction of Frank's pastor father, Nathan, a man scarred by World War II. It's the first Krueger book I've read, and I don't expect to read more. I'd give the book 2.5 stars....more
Through a series of linked stories, Delijani explores how the actions, imprisonment, and deaths of young Iranian "anti-revolutionary" activists reverb Through a series of linked stories, Delijani explores how the actions, imprisonment, and deaths of young Iranian "anti-revolutionary" activists reverberate through the generations and how the notorious Evin prison casts a shadow across the generations. It would have been useful for the author to have included family trees. An interesting book informed by the author's own experiences, including her own birth in the Tehran prison....more
Competent--if occasionally precious--writing, a thin plot and an unsympathetic protagonist in a VERY long book--approaching 400 pages. In the 1930s, fCompetent--if occasionally precious--writing, a thin plot and an unsympathetic protagonist in a VERY long book--approaching 400 pages. In the 1930s, fifteeen-year-old Thea Atwell is sent off from a privileged and rarefied existence in Florida to an exclusive girls' camp/school in the Carolinas as punishment after a "series of events". Twin brother Sam's fate is to be preferred by his parents and kept behind, though he, too, has been pivotal in his sister's removal from the family home. Thea's banishment is related to her burgeoning sexuality and a serious accident which causes an irreparable rift in her family. However, at camp Thea's sexuality--or shall we say, her nature of being the girl who wants too much--continues to spur her on. Not surprisingly, given the title, there is a great deal to do with horses and riding in this novel--more than a small chore to read if you're not a horse-lover. I think the book could've been cut to half its length. Even then, I wouldn't recommend it. There's something missing--an emotional heart, I'd say. It occurs to me that a far more interesting character than Thea is her mother--who, we learn by the end, has a past of her own. I would've been interested in finding out more about that past.Consider passing on this book or borrow it from the library if you must. ...more
What exactly was the point? If I were to write something like this novel, I doubt it would be published. I'm puzzled as to why people are waxing poetiWhat exactly was the point? If I were to write something like this novel, I doubt it would be published. I'm puzzled as to why people are waxing poetic about it....more
The focal point of Madden's lyrical reflection on time, memory, and nostalgia is Fintan Buckley--a middle-aged, moderately successful, and happily mar The focal point of Madden's lyrical reflection on time, memory, and nostalgia is Fintan Buckley--a middle-aged, moderately successful, and happily married lawyer--who is surprised to find himself lapsing into a sort of mystical reflectiveness. Fintan's problem all along, according to his prickly, imposing and stylish elderly mother is that he is possessed of too much heart--"functionally intelligent" but deficient in the ambition that she herself possessed as a young woman--ambition that was thwarted by her overbearing father who did not believe in education for girls. In the Buckley family, one is either a hawk or a dove. Fintan is the latter.
Fintan is experiencing a mid-life re-evaluation of sorts, one that finds him revisiting the past. His university-aged son points out that the past Fintan sees is viewed through rose-coloured glasses--devoid of the unpleasant smells and hardness of real life. Fintan is mistaking the medium for the reality, says Niall. Fintan's sister, the strikingly beautiful Marita, previously a high-end fashion buyer in London, has within the last couple of years returned abruptly to Dublin after a trauma which is eventually revealed. More estranged from their mother than Fintan, she initially sought refuge in the Dublin home of her aunt and uncle, a house little changed from the days of Uncle Christy's deceased parents. When Christy suddenly dies, Marita stays on with her beloved aunt in the house of old things.
Marita's relationship with the past stands in contrast to Fintan's. So painful is the experience that landed her back in Ireland that she has walled off part of her memory. The siblings make a sort of peace with the past by reconnecting with a cousin whom they haven't seen since late childhood. During that long-ago time, so the story goes, their mother stopped their trips to the north because of The Troubles. However, it was more than that: Fintan and Marita's mother seems to have been repelled by the dirtiness of the rural farming life of her husband's family, underscoring her sense that she has married below herself. The visit Fintan and Marita end up making to cousin Edward and the farm in the north allows a reconciliation of past and present for both siblings.
Madden's book is generally beautifully rendered. I say "generally" because about four-fifths of the way through, a sudden jarring turn in narration and a clanging shift in authorial voice occurs. The reader is propelled into a disquisition of sorts on the fate of the Buckley family two years into the future, when Ireland is reeling under the economic downturn. The abruptness of this break in the narrative destroys the dreamlike quality of the story, and it never quite gets back on track after this. It makes sense that an examination of nostalgia should be counterbalanced with a consideration of the future, but the gracelessness of this section mars what is otherwise a very lovely piece of work.
This is the first book of Deirdre Madden's I've read and I look forward to reading more of her work. Many thanks to Net Galley for granting me permission to read and comment on a digital ARC. (Three and a half stars )...more
I've come late to this novel, and others certainly have had plenty to say--the commentary on the novel is thought-provoking.It strikes me that this woI've come late to this novel, and others certainly have had plenty to say--the commentary on the novel is thought-provoking.It strikes me that this would've made a better short story or novella than a full-length novel. With its considerable length, it's very hard going and grim, though an interesting psychological study of obsession, failed hope, fantasy, and loneliness. Dark, not a pleasure to read, and not a book that makes me want to read more by Messud....more
In 1930s London, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew, a forty-year-old spinster of “faded gentility�, dutifully reports to the employment office at 9:15 one drizIn 1930s London, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew, a forty-year-old spinster of “faded gentility�, dutifully reports to the employment office at 9:15 one drizzly November morning, and is promptly informed that two suitable positions have come up. One of them is a nursery governess job for Miss LaFosse, and Miss Pettigrew will be able to make the 10 o’clock appointment if she quickly makes her way to Onslow Mansions. Only after the spinster’s repeated knocking at the door of the opulent residence does the young and lovely Delysia LaFosse answer the door, wearing a negligee and looking as though she has walked off a movie set. The job is not discussed because Miss LaFosse has a more urgent problem: she needs help getting rid of one man before another arrives. Miss LaFosse is an actress and a singer with a lot of irons in the fire. She has to hedge all her bets: if one man won’t back her next gig, another needs to be lined up who will. And then, of course, there’s the fellow in the background who wants to marry her.
Miss LaFosse has so much going on at her residence that there’s no time to discuss what Miss Pettigrew is even there for. She conveniently poses as the young woman’s friend and ends up staying for a very busy, active, transformational day, full of romance and glamour and attention.
Many readers have been charmed by this light, frothy confection. Certainly, Winnifred Watson has created a number of clever situations and much witty repartee. I wanted to like the book, and, in fact, I think I did like the first third. After that, though, I just got tired of the whole idea. I got it: an aging spinster has a fairy-tale dream day. Being seen in quite a different light by others, being required to improvise and act a part, she discovers herself to be more than she thought.
This wasn’t an entirely unpleasant read, but, after a point, I just wanted it to be over. I knew, based on the whole set-up and tone, it couldn’t possibly end badly for our protagonist. Although rather racy for the 1930s (Miss LaFosse has many lovers, one of whom uses and provides her with cocaine), the book is nevertheless very much a product of its time. It is not politically correct, and, in fact, contains a couple of jarring anti-Semitic remarks. Miss Pettigrew disapproves of one of Miss LaFosse’s lovers because he has traces of “the Jew� in him and isn't quite English.
Were Winnifred Watson’s other novels readily available (I don't believe they are), I would make no effort to seek them out. As I said, many have found this book delightful, but I found the whole thing wore thin pretty quickly....more
Too clever by half. The author is too busy showing off to create a meaningful story or characters with any depth. Pyrotechnics on the page --a lot of Too clever by half. The author is too busy showing off to create a meaningful story or characters with any depth. Pyrotechnics on the page --a lot of noise; no music. Not worth one's time....more
**spoiler alert** Too cute to be tolerable--the musings of the imaginary friend of an autistic boy. The autistic boy pooping on the school bully (some**spoiler alert** Too cute to be tolerable--the musings of the imaginary friend of an autistic boy. The autistic boy pooping on the school bully (somewhere around chapter 6, I think) was enough for me to know that I couldn't persist with this one....more
A well-written and compelling story of a boy who seeks to avenge the sexual assault of his sister by meeting and extracting information from the 15-yeA well-written and compelling story of a boy who seeks to avenge the sexual assault of his sister by meeting and extracting information from the 15-year-old sister of the perpetrator...only a problem develops...he is attracted to her and she to him. Ellie, the sister of the perpetrator is forced to make difficult decisions involving family loyalty, the truth, and her burgeoning love for the brother of "the enemy". It sounds like the book shouldn't work, but the story is in skillful hands and is well and movingly told. Recommended for readers 14+ Many adult women would enjoy the book also....more
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