Scan barcode
charlottepr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.75
jenmcmaynes's review
3.0
2.5 stars. I expected that I would love this book; it has so many of my favorite plot elements. Ancestral family home? Check. Long buried family secrets? Check. A slightly unreliable narrator? Check. And yet, put all together, all these checks ended up adding up to a mediocre read, at best, for me.
A large part of my problem was the writing style. The chapters, each centered around an object in the Martin family home, were so short (typically just a few pages long) that I never really got into the story. There was no flow. And the secrets, forever hinted at and such a large part of Therese's and Leonie's life, were mostly left as secrets. While I understand that the point wasn't necessarily that there were secrets -- that the possibility of them was enough to do the damage, as it were -- it still left me frustrated.
I did appreciate how Roberts presented both the main characters in a way that left me constantly switching to whom I felt the more sympathy. First Therese in the present, then Leonie in the flashback, and finally in the end, both. Which I guess was the point of the story, and well done.
But overall, I found this rather dull and had to force myself to pick up the book; never a good sign!
A large part of my problem was the writing style. The chapters, each centered around an object in the Martin family home, were so short (typically just a few pages long) that I never really got into the story. There was no flow. And the secrets, forever hinted at and such a large part of Therese's and Leonie's life, were mostly left as secrets. While I understand that the point wasn't necessarily that there were secrets -- that the possibility of them was enough to do the damage, as it were -- it still left me frustrated.
I did appreciate how Roberts presented both the main characters in a way that left me constantly switching to whom I felt the more sympathy. First Therese in the present, then Leonie in the flashback, and finally in the end, both. Which I guess was the point of the story, and well done.
But overall, I found this rather dull and had to force myself to pick up the book; never a good sign!
margaret21's review against another edition
3.0
Anglo-French writer Michèle Roberts writes the story of cousins, one English, one French. Every short chapter is triggered by some household object in the house where Thérèse and Léonie both live in their teenage years. The book paints a vivid picture of French country-house life in the post-war years, and was a device I enjoyed, just as I enjoyed observing the girls' somewhat love-hate relationship develop, despite their closeness. But I was uninvolved in the plot itself, which I found rather slight. For me, this book was very much a case of style over substance.
daisgilb's review
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
emilybh's review
4.0
This is the story of two girls and the uncanny family home they grow up in, a Normandy house with an unsettling history. This is the kind of novel you get lost in: every detail of the house is filled in, every meal and shift of light, every emotion the protagonists experience. I loved this book.
decembermum's review
3.0
I received this as part of a postal book group
I thought I would enjoy this book more than I did. The writing style annoyed me and the inference that the writer knew more about what was going on than the reader. I still didn't really know what had happened or who had done what at the end.
I thought I would enjoy this book more than I did. The writing style annoyed me and the inference that the writer knew more about what was going on than the reader. I still didn't really know what had happened or who had done what at the end.
josetinocoperez's review
2.0
Hacía tiempo que no leía una obra que me resultaba... indiferente.
¿Por qué me lo ha resultado? Porque no he podido empatizar con los personajes.
Razón 1: capítulos demasiado cortos con foco en un objeto en especial.
Razón 2: predecible. Todos sabíamos cuáles eran los secretos y no por los easters eggs, sino porque es todo tan evidente.
Razón 3: Capítulos irrelevantes. Un ejemplo: un capítulo sobre la taza de váter. Que sí, que no había antes y la instalaron nueva, pero ¿es necesario describir cómo caga un personaje sin tener real importancia en la trama? No.
No es que esté mal escrito, pero las descripciones detalladas solo funcionan si tienen función en la trama. Aquí no la tienen. No es malo per se tampoco, pero tampoco bueno. Lo dicho: irrelevante.
¿Por qué me lo ha resultado? Porque no he podido empatizar con los personajes.
Razón 1: capítulos demasiado cortos con foco en un objeto en especial.
Razón 2: predecible. Todos sabíamos cuáles eran los secretos y no por los easters eggs, sino porque es todo tan evidente.
Razón 3: Capítulos irrelevantes. Un ejemplo: un capítulo sobre la taza de váter. Que sí, que no había antes y la instalaron nueva, pero ¿es necesario describir cómo caga un personaje sin tener real importancia en la trama? No.
No es que esté mal escrito, pero las descripciones detalladas solo funcionan si tienen función en la trama. Aquí no la tienen. No es malo per se tampoco, pero tampoco bueno. Lo dicho: irrelevante.
kali's review
3.0
The set up of this novel was suspenseful and reeled me in until about two-thirds through, when it seemed to peter out and offered little resolution or answers. Therese returns to the family home after 20 years as a cloistered nun, to find her cousin Leonie ensconced as lady of the manor. Leonie bristles with such hostility towards her, I was hooked, wondering what the hell Therese had done to deserve such shabby treatment. Most of the story then retells their teenage years when Leonie comes to stay from her home in England, Therese's mum dies, and the local farmer boy Baptiste initiates Leonie into secual maturity. Therese is a holier-than-thou bitch. She steals Leonie's visions of the Virgin Mary at a village shrine in the forest, and becomes the local priest's pet protege. The attention given to the shrine, however, uncovers the awful events during world war 2 when Jewish refugees were betrayed in the village and killed alongside Baptiste's father, who had been harbouring them. This is not a spoiler -- this event is openly referred to. The identity of the one who betrayed them, though, is kept to the end, and really feels meaningless tacked on, as it is. There are no consequences or ramifications of this revelation, it doesn't change how the cousins relate to each other, in fact, I don't even know for certain the reason why the cousins feel like they relate to each other the way they do.
balancinghistorybooks's review
4.0
Such a good book. Beguiling and intriguing, with a good dollop of foreboding thrown in for good measure.
More...