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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
At first, there seemed very little that distinguished this book as "literary fiction" rather than "romance." The character treatment was limited, somewhat shallow and stereotypical, and the writing didn't have the sort of glimmer one comes to expect from literary fiction. Although her shifting of viewpoint characters can more adequately be described as "head-flowing" than "head-hopping," it still really annoyed me that she wouldn't just "stay in one place" for an entire scene. (By "head-flowing," I mean that there was often a common thread that supposedly should have "smoothed" the transition from one viewpoint character to another within the same scene, but in actuality it just made me not feel connected to *anyone.*)
I didn't like any of the characters except March's husband, Richard, who is only in about two scenes, and who gets jilted for her childhood love who, as a man, battered his previous wife. I couldn't buy into the relationship/connection between Gwen and the racehorse, Tarot, who, in actuality, would have probably trampled her. This book is essentially a retelling of "Wuthering Heights," but that's not what redeemed it -- what redeemed it was the way it followed that kind of obsessive, possessive love, forged in the inexperience of childhood, out to its logical conclusion, handily dispelling the notion that such a love is "romantic." And for that, anyone whose looking for a romance in these pages is probably the person who most needs to read them.
I didn't like any of the characters except March's husband, Richard, who is only in about two scenes, and who gets jilted for her childhood love who, as a man, battered his previous wife. I couldn't buy into the relationship/connection between Gwen and the racehorse, Tarot, who, in actuality, would have probably trampled her. This book is essentially a retelling of "Wuthering Heights," but that's not what redeemed it -- what redeemed it was the way it followed that kind of obsessive, possessive love, forged in the inexperience of childhood, out to its logical conclusion, handily dispelling the notion that such a love is "romantic." And for that, anyone whose looking for a romance in these pages is probably the person who most needs to read them.
This was just ok. It took a turn I wasn’t expecting but then the end was a little anticlimactic. Some ends were left loose which I found a little annoying, as well.
Its inspired by or modeled after wuthering heights, but not nearly as good..
Think Wuthering Heights meets Mrs. Dalloway but then make it about domestic violence!
I bought this at a library book sale. I’ll admit with the Oprah seal of approval I’d thought oh it must be good.
It was not that good.
What first started as what I thought was a sweet homecoming back to the sleepy childhood town was anything but. So many skeletons in the closets, I’m left with more questions than answers, and feeling very angry at the sheer stupidity of March.
At least the horse is fine, I’d have set the book on fire if anything happened to Tarot.
It was not that good.
What first started as what I thought was a sweet homecoming back to the sleepy childhood town was anything but. So many skeletons in the closets, I’m left with more questions than answers, and feeling very angry at the sheer stupidity of March.
At least the horse is fine, I’d have set the book on fire if anything happened to Tarot.
I despise almost everything this book made me feel. Getting inside the minds of an abuser and his victims is so not what I needed to be reading right now. Even in a better mood, it wouldn't go past two stars, and I would only go that high because at least the victims do get out in the end, and the abuser got what he deserved.
I pushed through quickly out of obligation to read this for a discussion group, otherwise I never would have picked it up. Unfortunately, I think it has also soured my chances of ever reading another Alice Hoffman book.
I pushed through quickly out of obligation to read this for a discussion group, otherwise I never would have picked it up. Unfortunately, I think it has also soured my chances of ever reading another Alice Hoffman book.
I was a little disappointed with the way the book ended. I felt like the story was cut short. Several of the storylines that have been developed throught the book were simply forgotten in the end.
This book suckered me a little, but I respect it for doing so. Most times when someone reconnects with their first love in a book, you can't help rooting for that love to triumph. Here, that's exactly what happened-- March and Hollis were young and devoted to each other, but he left town to make his fortune and she eventually gave up waiting on him. Fast-forward a couple of decades, and when March comes back to town for a funeral, she and Hollis reconnect. At first it's very much the lovey-dovey kind of thing I expected from a story about a reunion of first loves, but then Alice Hoffman does what she does best: she uses heartbreakingly beautiful descriptors to paint a world that's dark and even a little grim, but one from which you can't tear your eyes away.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes