Scan barcode
exdebris's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
mg_espi's review against another edition
5.0
75/2021 Leed a Barbara Comyns. Ya está.
Tiene una capacidad para construir historias intemporales que me alucina, tardé más de la mitad del libro para ubicar cuándo se desarrolla la acción, porque lo que cuenta es una historia que podría pasar en cualquier momento.
Una madre soltera comienza una relación de amistad con un matrimonio sin hijos y sus vidas se van enredando más y más hasta el final, que para mí fue completamente sorprendente.
Los personajes secundarios son también muy importantes para la historia, la relación con su madre sobre todo, la relación con el exnovio…
Lo devoré.
Tiene una capacidad para construir historias intemporales que me alucina, tardé más de la mitad del libro para ubicar cuándo se desarrolla la acción, porque lo que cuenta es una historia que podría pasar en cualquier momento.
Una madre soltera comienza una relación de amistad con un matrimonio sin hijos y sus vidas se van enredando más y más hasta el final, que para mí fue completamente sorprendente.
Los personajes secundarios son también muy importantes para la historia, la relación con su madre sobre todo, la relación con el exnovio…
Lo devoré.
hksmith's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
rpmirabella's review against another edition
3.0
Going to revisit this one, after reading OUR SPOONS CAME FROM WOOLWORTHS. I don't think I was ready for it when I first picked it up.
rpmirabella's review against another edition
4.0
Second read was better than the first. Enjoyed it much more. Still not my favorite Comyns, but a very interesting book.
ohmanbleh's review against another edition
4.0
I got through this whole darn thing without having even heard of the Brothers' Grimm tale The Juniper Tree. Finding out that this Barba Comyns novel is a modern adaptation of the classic tale clarifies a lot about the book's uncanny tone.
The Juniper Tree follows Belle, a depressed mid-20's single mom struggling to get by as an antique reseller. The book follows the emotional minutiae of Belle's relationships, especially with the wealthy Gertrude and Bertrand, a privileged couple who build an unlikely friendship with low-class Belle and her illegitimate, mixed-race daughter.
The focus on Belle's interior emotional life (and a profession that surrounds her in antiques) may explain why I was surprised several chapters in to realize the book's set in 1980's London. I'd thought I was reading a Victorian period piece.
Belle's world feels like an anachronism in the 1980's (or maybe it's the other way around). Throughout the book I found myself surprised when people mentioned cars or planes or telephones. I may just not understand British class dynamics, but a lot of the book's relationships felt antiquated to me too. Gertrude and Bertrand, for instance, seem to run a classic British estate, and much is made of the struggle to find proper domestic help run the household. Bertrand's masculine self-obsession and possessiveness would seem to me at least a topic of conversation in the 1980's, but the women in his life seem accept it as the natural course of things. It's all absolutely intentional, but for me these incongruous elements lend to a dark, fairy-tale atmosphere. I loved it. The tone alone made me feel I was reading a fantastical horror novel, even as the facts of the plot consisted of selling antiques and feeding a little girl cakes.
The story's unreal setting doesn't keep its people from being fascinating and almost too real. I suppose it's just another fairy retelling, like Wicked or Maleficent, but I'm glad I'd never heard the Grimm tale going in.
The Juniper Tree follows Belle, a depressed mid-20's single mom struggling to get by as an antique reseller. The book follows the emotional minutiae of Belle's relationships, especially with the wealthy Gertrude and Bertrand, a privileged couple who build an unlikely friendship with low-class Belle and her illegitimate, mixed-race daughter.
The focus on Belle's interior emotional life (and a profession that surrounds her in antiques) may explain why I was surprised several chapters in to realize the book's set in 1980's London. I'd thought I was reading a Victorian period piece.
Belle's world feels like an anachronism in the 1980's (or maybe it's the other way around). Throughout the book I found myself surprised when people mentioned cars or planes or telephones. I may just not understand British class dynamics, but a lot of the book's relationships felt antiquated to me too. Gertrude and Bertrand, for instance, seem to run a classic British estate, and much is made of the struggle to find proper domestic help run the household. Bertrand's masculine self-obsession and possessiveness would seem to me at least a topic of conversation in the 1980's, but the women in his life seem accept it as the natural course of things. It's all absolutely intentional, but for me these incongruous elements lend to a dark, fairy-tale atmosphere. I loved it. The tone alone made me feel I was reading a fantastical horror novel, even as the facts of the plot consisted of selling antiques and feeding a little girl cakes.
The story's unreal setting doesn't keep its people from being fascinating and almost too real. I suppose it's just another fairy retelling, like Wicked or Maleficent, but I'm glad I'd never heard the Grimm tale going in.
littlesprite21's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
inkstainedlife's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
merricupofstars's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0