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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
A superb set piece encapsulating the push pull of emotions and societal expectations that were supposed to govern women's expectations of their positions and emotions. Well done prose with well drawn characters.
emotional
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The most satisfying part about the novel is that Edith refused the conventional ending where she ends up with a husband to satisfy society’s demands. She rejected him and decided to be independent
A woman is at a hotel in Switzerland, having been advised to go away while a situation blows over. You find out early on she was seeing a married man, so assume this somehow came to light, only to find out relatively far into the book that it’s actually the fact she left another man at the altar that she is having to live down. She had decided to marry this man she didn’t have a lot of feeling for in order to get the things that come with married life but then changed her mind at the last minute. After a period at the lake, another man proposes a marriage for those reasons explicitly. She says yes but again changes her mind at the last minute. The lead character is a writer and she makes interesting observations about the other guests at the hotel and what is expected of women at the time. None of the female guests are there with their partners and most are single. You get to see different ways in which women relate to men and how this has served them - with characters who variously were / were not what the men wanted and who did / did not give them what they wanted. The book didn’t grab me. The acceptance and subsequent rejection of the proposal felt like a sudden flurry of plot at the end compared to the rest of the book.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes