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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Gorgeous, transcendent, sweeping. The story of three siblings growing up in a crumbling manor in rural England in the early 1900s, following their births to their involvement in WWII. I’m not typically one for historical fiction, especially WWII historical fiction (what else can be said?!), but this was a beautiful read. It focused more on the three main characters with the war as a backdrop which helped my enjoyment. Took one star away because this book is very, very long and I don’t think it quite justifies its length. But that’s okay. It’s atmospheric, and moody, and feels like a cup of tea on a blustery day and wide lawns and complicated relationships and all sorts of British and human things.
Recommend if you love character driven novels that are gorgeously written that follow characters over their lives.
Recommend if you love character driven novels that are gorgeously written that follow characters over their lives.
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not really like this!
It’s a sprawling historical epic centered around three cousins, and I didn’t feel like there was particularly tight connections between the plot beats in their childhood versus their adulthood. The break from “kids messing around at a unique home theater with a rag tag group of artists and the well-to-do” to “literal British spies in world war 2 and most of the adults are either dead or gone” was jarring in a way that I couldn’t really reconcile.
I’m not sure I ever really knew what the themes of the book was, or what the ultimate overarching plot was. I thought the depictions of the three characters as children were extremely charming, and thought they lost nearly all of their charm when they grew up. I found them somewhat uninteresting as adults, even when two of them were literally British spies.
All and all, I’m sure this book deserves its popularity and praise, it just did not do it for me
It’s a sprawling historical epic centered around three cousins, and I didn’t feel like there was particularly tight connections between the plot beats in their childhood versus their adulthood. The break from “kids messing around at a unique home theater with a rag tag group of artists and the well-to-do” to “literal British spies in world war 2 and most of the adults are either dead or gone” was jarring in a way that I couldn’t really reconcile.
I’m not sure I ever really knew what the themes of the book was, or what the ultimate overarching plot was. I thought the depictions of the three characters as children were extremely charming, and thought they lost nearly all of their charm when they grew up. I found them somewhat uninteresting as adults, even when two of them were literally British spies.
All and all, I’m sure this book deserves its popularity and praise, it just did not do it for me
This took me six months to read but I'm glad to learn from other reviewers that I am not alone. "Meandering" is right.
But "atmospheric," "cozy," and "well-written prose" are right also.
But "atmospheric," "cozy," and "well-written prose" are right also.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
beautifully written, slow at times, but characters that feel real. Flossie feels like I'm reading about myself in a different timeline
This is a super long book. I like it, but it’s slow moving. It’s taken me a week to get through 25% of the book. I’ll come back to it or maybe I’ll try to listen instead of reading.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
The writing in this book is so unique and exceptional. Truly, I haven't read first person narration quite like it, the use of present tense, the way she really gets in each character's persona. The writing is just lovely. It's a bit of a slow start and the jumping around in time and viewpoint kind of makes each chapter stand a bit on its own so there's less of a connecting narrative. To a certain extent, that's fine--it reminds me a bit of the way some classic children's literature is written--kind of like Ballet Shoes maybe, and I would imagine it is on pupose. But it's not at all childish, even when in a child's perspective. You can sense the adult themes, even from a child's viewpoint. But I did become very invested in this family and once we moved into the war chapters, the earlier character building and family building chapters gain a new clarity.