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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
i suppose i should thank my various university modules for making me a reader very reluctant to DNF a book - otherwise i don't know if i would've gotten to the good bits of clever girl. my difficulties with this novel were two-fold, starting with the way the blurb described the book. focusing on a relationship the protagonist, stella, had when she was a teenager, i found myself getting confused when all of the events the blurb promised seemed to be over only a third of the way in. i was expecting something akin to normal people, an introspective novel primarily attuned to the relationship between one duo - that was not what i got. i suppose if i could speak to the person that wrote the blurb i'd ask why they chose that part of the novel to focus on, as it was by no means an inconsequential part of the narrative but certainly wasn't the focal point i got from the text.
the second issue i had was with stella herself. for a while i struggled to engage with the text, and i think that's because it seems as if stella - the character relaying all the information for the reader - wasn't engaged with what she was saying. however, my perseverance revealed that this was symptomatic of her age at that time, as i felt much more engaged as she aged.
although seemingly packaged as a novel about one relationship, clever girl is a book about family - where we find it, how we negotiate it, and the different forms it can take. with deliciously atmospheric storytelling, tessa hadley tracks the life of stella as she stumbles through adolescence and young adulthood before finding herself in middle age. for me the later parts of stella's life were the most engrossing, perhaps as our protagonist gained a greater sense of self i was able to sustain a better sense of her. definitely intrigued to read more by hadley! need to get my hands on late in the day...
the second issue i had was with stella herself. for a while i struggled to engage with the text, and i think that's because it seems as if stella - the character relaying all the information for the reader - wasn't engaged with what she was saying. however, my perseverance revealed that this was symptomatic of her age at that time, as i felt much more engaged as she aged.
although seemingly packaged as a novel about one relationship, clever girl is a book about family - where we find it, how we negotiate it, and the different forms it can take. with deliciously atmospheric storytelling, tessa hadley tracks the life of stella as she stumbles through adolescence and young adulthood before finding herself in middle age. for me the later parts of stella's life were the most engrossing, perhaps as our protagonist gained a greater sense of self i was able to sustain a better sense of her. definitely intrigued to read more by hadley! need to get my hands on late in the day...
This was pretty good. Shades of Iris Murdoch and A.S. Byatt, which is a compliment. But I think Tessa Hadley's short stories are where she really shines. I haven't been nearly as satisfied with any of her novels as I have with her wonderful stories.
this book follows stella a woman born in bristol through her childhood through to middle age and her relationships and her struggles with motherhood, felt the book took a little while to get going but overall enjoyed it.
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes