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cherrysoda9_9's review against another edition
2.0
This one didn't work for me, which was a bummer. I really enjoyed 'The Beast's Garden', but I found this book to be a little too disjointed for me. There were a lot of characters being introduced, and I didn't find myself captivated by any of the stories. Sadly, I put this one down after about 150 pages.
tien's review against another edition
3.0
This must be the lowest ever I've given a Kate Forsyth's book and I still think I'm being very generous with it. Let me start with a disclaimer: usually if there is a the smallest whiff of infidelities (especially in marriage), I'd not even touch the book much less read it (I do believe this to be a childhood trauma that I just have not been able to live down). BUT it's a Kate Forsyth's (one of faves ever) and it's a 'retelling' of Sleeping Beauty so I just had to give it a go.
I note that there have been a 1 or 2 star/s reviews and I agree with all their points which were mainly my grievances with this book:
1. Hard-to-like characters -I don't hate them but I don't like them; I find their choices frustrating and would like to shake them up
2. Too many POV's -I do believe this is not usual of Kate Forsyth and I flicking back and forth between 3 main characters with interlinking lives and then have a fourth one added for the last part of the book was just too much
3. Sad main plot - I can't really blame the author for the plot this time because it's mostly based on historical well-known scandals! I suggest you look these characters up on Google / Wikipedia.
I have had to rant a few times to friends and after giving the book a break for 2 weeks, I managed to pick it back up to finish. I definitely found the plot really hard to bear but I cannot fault Kate Forsyth's writing as she still managed to captivate me (30 mins on the train flew by without me noticing). I believe in Kate's inspiration & researches and I am looking forward to her next work though I do hope it will be something a little bit less despairing.
I note that there have been a 1 or 2 star/s reviews and I agree with all their points which were mainly my grievances with this book:
1. Hard-to-like characters -I don't hate them but I don't like them; I find their choices frustrating and would like to shake them up
2. Too many POV's -I do believe this is not usual of Kate Forsyth and I flicking back and forth between 3 main characters with interlinking lives and then have a fourth one added for the last part of the book was just too much
3. Sad main plot - I can't really blame the author for the plot this time because it's mostly based on historical well-known scandals! I suggest you look these characters up on Google / Wikipedia.
I have had to rant a few times to friends and after giving the book a break for 2 weeks, I managed to pick it back up to finish. I definitely found the plot really hard to bear but I cannot fault Kate Forsyth's writing as she still managed to captivate me (30 mins on the train flew by without me noticing). I believe in Kate's inspiration & researches and I am looking forward to her next work though I do hope it will be something a little bit less despairing.
samstillreading's review against another edition
4.0
I love the attention to detail and history in Kate Forsyth’s novels. It’s like reading history come to life. With the addition of a fairy tale (in this case, Sleeping Beauty), her stories really sparkle. I love how she combines the fairy tale with an unlikely setting – who would have thought that the Pre-Raphaelite painters could have this story within their lives? It’s masterful and intricate.
Now I must admit that I’m not terribly big on paintings and drawings (in fact, the last time I went to an art gallery it was for a book launch) so I wasn’t familiar with most of the real life characters. Lizzie Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti I had read about in other fiction, but I’d never heard of the other painters in ‘the Firm’ and their wives. I ended up being quite fascinated with what they looked like because they all painted pictures of each other (plus Lizzie and Janey were originally artists’ models). I tried to keep away from Googling their lives because I wanted to be surprised by the story. Boy, was I! The six main characters are all so entwined with friendships and romantic relationships, hidden or open. The plot follows their lives from jubilant youth to old age. Initially, it focuses on Lizzie Siddal, a young girl who dreams of being an artist. She acts as an artists’ model in her spare time to try and fund a painting course. It’s there that she meets Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who will be her great love and also her downfall. Lizzie is the most complex character in the book and one of the most interesting. She has a weakness for laudanum, is hurt by criticism and has a burning love for Gabriel. He doesn’t quite feel the same way, being more of a ladies’ man than the love of one lady. Lizzie and Gabriel have an odd relationship, portrayed as desperate, argumentative and passionate. Lizzie hangs on his every word, but Gabriel is more casual. It can only be a recipe for disaster…
While Gabriel is the initial one of the group the women all swoon over, it’s Ned Morris who provided the money initially for the Pre-Raphaelites to fund their quest for love and beauty. Topsy, as he’s known, is more stable and less volatile than Gabriel. He’s caring, particularly to their young model Janey in Oxford. He knows Janey will never love him the way she longs after Gabriel, but he tells himself he’s happy to marry her anyway. Janey is glad of a release from poverty and misery, and determined to make Topsy proud by educating herself.
Ned Burne-Jones makes up the third artist of the trio. He’s shy, quiet and riddled with doubt. He loves to paint, but procrastinates at every possible step to keep the people he loves close. His wife Georgie has loved him since she was a child and first told her the story of Briar Rose. Will Ned keep their own Sleeping Beauty, daughter Margot, asleep? Or will he let her be awakened by her Prince?
It’s a testament to Kate Forsyth’s strength as a writer that I can remember all these details of character traits and places after finishing the book. Her work is so intricate and carefully researched that it shines through on every page. I didn’t feel the Briar Rose story stuck out in the narrative; it only became clear to me as Margot was sitting as the model for her father’s Briar Rose paintings. That’s probably a good thing – I was so swept up in the relationships between the characters! I did get a bit sick of Lizzie and Gabriel’s tumultuous relationship but I felt the portrayal of Lizzie was very sensitively done as she battles anorexia/bulimia. I really felt for Lizzie and I wanted to give Gabriel a good smack for being so callous! It’s easy to see from my ramblings how much the characters come to life at Kate Forsyth’s hand. Please don’t miss this book if you’re a lover of historical fiction or just wanting some history through a wonderful story.
Thank you to Penguin Random House for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Now I must admit that I’m not terribly big on paintings and drawings (in fact, the last time I went to an art gallery it was for a book launch) so I wasn’t familiar with most of the real life characters. Lizzie Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti I had read about in other fiction, but I’d never heard of the other painters in ‘the Firm’ and their wives. I ended up being quite fascinated with what they looked like because they all painted pictures of each other (plus Lizzie and Janey were originally artists’ models). I tried to keep away from Googling their lives because I wanted to be surprised by the story. Boy, was I! The six main characters are all so entwined with friendships and romantic relationships, hidden or open. The plot follows their lives from jubilant youth to old age. Initially, it focuses on Lizzie Siddal, a young girl who dreams of being an artist. She acts as an artists’ model in her spare time to try and fund a painting course. It’s there that she meets Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who will be her great love and also her downfall. Lizzie is the most complex character in the book and one of the most interesting. She has a weakness for laudanum, is hurt by criticism and has a burning love for Gabriel. He doesn’t quite feel the same way, being more of a ladies’ man than the love of one lady. Lizzie and Gabriel have an odd relationship, portrayed as desperate, argumentative and passionate. Lizzie hangs on his every word, but Gabriel is more casual. It can only be a recipe for disaster…
While Gabriel is the initial one of the group the women all swoon over, it’s Ned Morris who provided the money initially for the Pre-Raphaelites to fund their quest for love and beauty. Topsy, as he’s known, is more stable and less volatile than Gabriel. He’s caring, particularly to their young model Janey in Oxford. He knows Janey will never love him the way she longs after Gabriel, but he tells himself he’s happy to marry her anyway. Janey is glad of a release from poverty and misery, and determined to make Topsy proud by educating herself.
Ned Burne-Jones makes up the third artist of the trio. He’s shy, quiet and riddled with doubt. He loves to paint, but procrastinates at every possible step to keep the people he loves close. His wife Georgie has loved him since she was a child and first told her the story of Briar Rose. Will Ned keep their own Sleeping Beauty, daughter Margot, asleep? Or will he let her be awakened by her Prince?
It’s a testament to Kate Forsyth’s strength as a writer that I can remember all these details of character traits and places after finishing the book. Her work is so intricate and carefully researched that it shines through on every page. I didn’t feel the Briar Rose story stuck out in the narrative; it only became clear to me as Margot was sitting as the model for her father’s Briar Rose paintings. That’s probably a good thing – I was so swept up in the relationships between the characters! I did get a bit sick of Lizzie and Gabriel’s tumultuous relationship but I felt the portrayal of Lizzie was very sensitively done as she battles anorexia/bulimia. I really felt for Lizzie and I wanted to give Gabriel a good smack for being so callous! It’s easy to see from my ramblings how much the characters come to life at Kate Forsyth’s hand. Please don’t miss this book if you’re a lover of historical fiction or just wanting some history through a wonderful story.
Thank you to Penguin Random House for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
thebookmuse's review against another edition
5.0
I received a pre release copy to review, longer review to go up on my blog for the blog tour on the first of July.
I adored this book, it was full of amazing characters and had an intriguing plot. It is well written, and well researched. Definitely one to read if you enjoy Kate Forsyth's books.
I adored this book, it was full of amazing characters and had an intriguing plot. It is well written, and well researched. Definitely one to read if you enjoy Kate Forsyth's books.
kali's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve been waiting for this book for a very long time. For 26 years, in fact, ever since I received a framed print of Rossetti’s Proserpina for my 15th birthday. I’m pretty much a Pre-Raph Tragic, so when Kate Forsyth announced she was writing a book on the PR Sisterhood about 2 years ago, I was beside myself. And then I got it into my hands a few days ago and devoured it. Told from multiple points of view — Lizzie Siddal, Jane Morris, Georgiana Burne-Jones and Margot Burne-Jones, the wives and a daughter of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ned Burne-Jones and William Morris, the story weaves a richly sad tale of 19th Century morality, with the thorns of sin that bound women behind high walls at the time, and the pain that was inflicted on them and their loved ones if they should try to pursue their true loves. It is from this suffering of social stigmatisation that I feel the good fairy saved Margot Burne-Jones, as the sleeping beauty of the fairy tale. This is a true romance, in terms of evoking heartbreak and passion, the slough of despondency and obsessive love, when those you love don’t love you, and you cannot love those who do.
sylvanas's review against another edition
2.0
Easily one of the most dissapointing books I've ever read. I found the characters bland and annoying and there was little time to care about them in between the switching of POVs and the fact that most conflict was quickly done or barely mentioned. I can take annoying characters if they bring something interesting to the story, but this was not the case.
Still unsure why is listed under retellings. While there are clear themes and moments that remind us of Sleeping Beauty, this was mostly a watered down melodrama.
Still unsure why is listed under retellings. While there are clear themes and moments that remind us of Sleeping Beauty, this was mostly a watered down melodrama.
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