Scan barcode
meandmyshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Historical fiction is something that I really,really enjoy,and a historical fiction related to Virginia Woolf?...*chef's kiss*
popthebutterfly's review against another edition
3.0
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Talland House
Author: Maggie Humm
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended For...: historical fiction fans
Publication Date: August 18, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, slight sexual content)
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her―a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette and a nurse in WWI, and now she’s a successful artist with a painting displayed at the Royal Academy. Then Louis appears at the exhibition with the news that Mrs. Ramsay has died under suspicious circumstances. Talking to Louis, Lily realizes two things: 1) she must find out more about her beloved Mrs. Ramsay’s death (and her sometimes-violent husband, Mr. Ramsay), and 2) She still loves Louis.
Set between 1900 and 1919 in picturesque Cornwall and war-blasted London, Talland House takes Lily Briscoe from the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and tells her story outside the confines of Woolf’s novel―as a student in 1900, as a young woman becoming a professional artist, her loves and friendships, mourning her dead mother, and solving the mystery of her friend Mrs. Ramsay’s sudden death. Talland House is both a story for our present time, exploring the tensions women experience between their public careers and private loves, and a story of a specific moment in our past―a time when women first began to be truly independent.
Review: For the most part this was a good book. The world building and character development was well done. The pacing was on point and it really flowed with the book. The book also had a great plot that kept me motivated to read.
However, the protagonist makes reading the story really hard. I didn’t vibe with her cocky and mean attitude and it made me really want to stop reading the book several times over. The book also was written weirdly. The book was descriptive in some parts and the just quickly wrote in others. I think it needs to just be edited a bit more.
Verdict: It was good just weird.
Book: Talland House
Author: Maggie Humm
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended For...: historical fiction fans
Publication Date: August 18, 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Recommended Age: 16+ (romance, slight sexual content)
Publisher: She Writes Press
Pages: 352
Synopsis: Royal Academy, London 1919: Lily has put her student days in St. Ives, Cornwall, behind her―a time when her substitute mother, Mrs. Ramsay, seemingly disliked Lily’s portrait of her and Louis Grier, her tutor, never seduced her as she hoped he would. In the years since, she’s been a suffragette and a nurse in WWI, and now she’s a successful artist with a painting displayed at the Royal Academy. Then Louis appears at the exhibition with the news that Mrs. Ramsay has died under suspicious circumstances. Talking to Louis, Lily realizes two things: 1) she must find out more about her beloved Mrs. Ramsay’s death (and her sometimes-violent husband, Mr. Ramsay), and 2) She still loves Louis.
Set between 1900 and 1919 in picturesque Cornwall and war-blasted London, Talland House takes Lily Briscoe from the pages of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse and tells her story outside the confines of Woolf’s novel―as a student in 1900, as a young woman becoming a professional artist, her loves and friendships, mourning her dead mother, and solving the mystery of her friend Mrs. Ramsay’s sudden death. Talland House is both a story for our present time, exploring the tensions women experience between their public careers and private loves, and a story of a specific moment in our past―a time when women first began to be truly independent.
Review: For the most part this was a good book. The world building and character development was well done. The pacing was on point and it really flowed with the book. The book also had a great plot that kept me motivated to read.
However, the protagonist makes reading the story really hard. I didn’t vibe with her cocky and mean attitude and it made me really want to stop reading the book several times over. The book also was written weirdly. The book was descriptive in some parts and the just quickly wrote in others. I think it needs to just be edited a bit more.
Verdict: It was good just weird.
nadia_boulanger's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
When I started reading Talland House I was super exited: It's basically a Woolf-Fanfiction and I love Woolf, so I had great expectations! Sadly, the book did not live up to them.
I don't like how the male/female relationship is handled, I don't like what Humm did to Lily's character in general, I don't like the "mystery", I don't like the weird pacing, sometimes it seems sloppy edited, often points are hammered into the reader without any subtlety, the mix of real and fictional people is not to my taste and the list goes on.
What I did like are the intertextual things like the importance of a Keats poem or Shakespeare's Henry V or Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade. I liked researching the mentioned paintings and texts and people and I have rarely ever made so many notes to one book that short (which is not necessarily a good thing though).Also, there are two men in love with each other, which is cool, though I am a bit sad that Lily did not end up with Emily or Eliza.
In conclusion: Humm did an ok job, if this were on AO3 I would be heavily impressed by the quality of the story (though there are some magnificent stories on AO3), but since it is an actual published book it has left me disappointed.
I don't like how the male/female relationship is handled, I don't like what Humm did to Lily's character in general, I don't like the "mystery", I don't like the weird pacing, sometimes it seems sloppy edited, often points are hammered into the reader without any subtlety, the mix of real and fictional people is not to my taste and the list goes on.
What I did like are the intertextual things like the importance of a Keats poem or Shakespeare's Henry V or Tennyson's The Charge of the Light Brigade. I liked researching the mentioned paintings and texts and people and I have rarely ever made so many notes to one book that short (which is not necessarily a good thing though).
In conclusion: Humm did an ok job, if this were on AO3 I would be heavily impressed by the quality of the story (though there are some magnificent stories on AO3), but since it is an actual published book it has left me disappointed.
theurban_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Talland House takes inspiration from Virginia Woolf's, To the Lighthouse. You will also be surprised to know that Talland House is also where Woolf spent 13 summers with her family.
Centering on Lily Briscoe’s coming-of-age and offering a plausible resolution to one of the twenty-first century’s greatest literary mysteries - the sudden death of Mrs. Ramsay - Talland House partly follows the time structure of Woolf’s novel, but weaves into this frame a prequel, and many fictions of Woolf’s life including her family, the artists and friends she knew, and Lily’s fictionalized life and career outside of the novel.
The book was a beautiful description of the town of St. Ives and the life of the protagonist Lily. The entire story revolved around Lily, Mrs, Ramsay and of course the Talland House. It's a very slow paced book going back and forth between the present day life of Lily and the of her time before and during the first World War.
Many a times you may almost feel like Lily thinks too much but I feel that is an apt depiction of her artistic mind. The character development of Lily is also appropriate to a time when women in the western world were trying to become independent beings.
The book will take you through her journey as a student in Paris, to a student in St. Ives where she first meets Mrs. Ramsay, to journey of coming back to Talland House as an artist, as a suffragette, as a nurse during World War 2 and finally having her artwork being displayed at the Royal Art Gallery being almost lost and clueless through it all.
The story carries with itself the mystery of Mrs. Ramsay's death and Lily's determination to complete her portrait as well as figure out the reason behind he sudden untimely death which gives you something to look forward to. If you have an interest in art, you'll also be in awe of the artistic descriptions in the book because I sure was.
I rate the book 3.5 bookmarks out of 5 because of the slow pacing of the book, of course the book has instigated and even inspired me to look into more of Virginia Woolf's works, but this title itself could've been slightly fast paced as some details felt unnecessary.
Centering on Lily Briscoe’s coming-of-age and offering a plausible resolution to one of the twenty-first century’s greatest literary mysteries - the sudden death of Mrs. Ramsay - Talland House partly follows the time structure of Woolf’s novel, but weaves into this frame a prequel, and many fictions of Woolf’s life including her family, the artists and friends she knew, and Lily’s fictionalized life and career outside of the novel.
The book was a beautiful description of the town of St. Ives and the life of the protagonist Lily. The entire story revolved around Lily, Mrs, Ramsay and of course the Talland House. It's a very slow paced book going back and forth between the present day life of Lily and the of her time before and during the first World War.
Many a times you may almost feel like Lily thinks too much but I feel that is an apt depiction of her artistic mind. The character development of Lily is also appropriate to a time when women in the western world were trying to become independent beings.
The book will take you through her journey as a student in Paris, to a student in St. Ives where she first meets Mrs. Ramsay, to journey of coming back to Talland House as an artist, as a suffragette, as a nurse during World War 2 and finally having her artwork being displayed at the Royal Art Gallery being almost lost and clueless through it all.
The story carries with itself the mystery of Mrs. Ramsay's death and Lily's determination to complete her portrait as well as figure out the reason behind he sudden untimely death which gives you something to look forward to. If you have an interest in art, you'll also be in awe of the artistic descriptions in the book because I sure was.
I rate the book 3.5 bookmarks out of 5 because of the slow pacing of the book, of course the book has instigated and even inspired me to look into more of Virginia Woolf's works, but this title itself could've been slightly fast paced as some details felt unnecessary.
lk93's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley
Thank you for the opportunity.
This book has an interesting premise and build up to it. The writing is lyrical and has some really well written parts.
However, it felt over-romanticised at times to the extent that it became unrealistic. It was a shame as it draws the reader away from the character and what could be an interesting story.
On the whole, an OK book.
Thank you for the opportunity.
This book has an interesting premise and build up to it. The writing is lyrical and has some really well written parts.
However, it felt over-romanticised at times to the extent that it became unrealistic. It was a shame as it draws the reader away from the character and what could be an interesting story.
On the whole, an OK book.
More...