Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps follows Sian, a young woman whose nightmares which involve her dying horrifically, have plagued her for sometime. After joining an archaeological dig, she meets a man, Mack, and his dog, Hadrian, and after bantering/flirting with each other, he tells her his deceased father left him a 18th Century scroll which contains the confession of Thos Peirson, and has never been read. This novella revolves around Sian and her concerns regarding her physical health, whilst also fighting her growing feelings for Mack, and her desire to read the confession inside the scroll.
So I did not like this. At all. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was too short for me, maybe it was the writing style. Just didn't work for me. The summary I read for this book stated that it would contain a murder mystery, and it just wasn't what I expected. The friendship between Sian and Mack also didn't go how I thought it would.
Overall, didn't work for me.
So I did not like this. At all. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was too short for me, maybe it was the writing style. Just didn't work for me. The summary I read for this book stated that it would contain a murder mystery, and it just wasn't what I expected. The friendship between Sian and Mack also didn't go how I thought it would.
Spoiler
I was so certain they would give into their feelings for each other and get together. I still don't fully understand Sian's reasons for not giving in.Overall, didn't work for me.
Michel Faber is brilliant. I was drawn into this short book from the arresting opening paragraph, the location, and the interesting storyline.
The main character Sian, is an archaeologist working on a dig at Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire. She has a tragic complicated backstory and when she meets Magnus and his dog Hadrian their relationship isn’t going to be straight forward. Magnus has an old document in a bottle which Sian agrees to open and find out what it says. The book is a slow reveal, both Sian herself and the story from the document.
I think I have to add Faber to my favourite authors, Ive enjoyed everything I’ve read by him!
The main character Sian, is an archaeologist working on a dig at Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire. She has a tragic complicated backstory and when she meets Magnus and his dog Hadrian their relationship isn’t going to be straight forward. Magnus has an old document in a bottle which Sian agrees to open and find out what it says. The book is a slow reveal, both Sian herself and the story from the document.
I think I have to add Faber to my favourite authors, Ive enjoyed everything I’ve read by him!
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having just recently been to Whitby it was very easy to picture the novella in my head and it made me want to go back immediately. Not the most exciting story in the world and the central mystery is a little anti-climactic but if you’re looking for a romcom energy with a very dark and sinister edge then this might hit the spot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Murder, War
I didn't realise how short this book was when I bought it. (It was only £1 in a Kindle sale though so I don't feel too shortchanged!) The print copy is only just over 100 pages I think, and I flew through this in a fraction of a lazy afternoon.
I bought it because I know the setting, the steps up to the abbey at Whitby, well and it sounded intriguing. It's short but perfectly formed and I wouldn't have minded spending a lot longer with the characters, but this worked nicely. I'll look out for more by the author.
I bought it because I know the setting, the steps up to the abbey at Whitby, well and it sounded intriguing. It's short but perfectly formed and I wouldn't have minded spending a lot longer with the characters, but this worked nicely. I'll look out for more by the author.
mysterious
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
#26 under 150 pages
This is a novella which would have been improved by being given the full novel treatment. It centres on an archaeologist at Whitby the steps referring to the steps up to the Abbey where she has to climb every day to get to the dig. Suffering from nightmares, she doesn't sleep well and when she meets a man with a dog it seems he is linked with the dreams. There is an incipient romance which goes nowhere and the whole thing reads as though it is a first draft of a longer novel needed to give the detail to flesh out the characters believably with motivation. The setting and beginning drew me in but ultimately only an OK read.
This is a novella which would have been improved by being given the full novel treatment. It centres on an archaeologist at Whitby the steps referring to the steps up to the Abbey where she has to climb every day to get to the dig. Suffering from nightmares, she doesn't sleep well and when she meets a man with a dog it seems he is linked with the dreams. There is an incipient romance which goes nowhere and the whole thing reads as though it is a first draft of a longer novel needed to give the detail to flesh out the characters believably with motivation. The setting and beginning drew me in but ultimately only an OK read.
This is quite a short book, somewhere between a novella and a long short story. My library ebook edition turned out to have a preview of The Book of Strange New Things taking up the final third, so I was a bit surprised when The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps ended quite abruptly on page 66.
Under the Skin was a brilliant debut novel and a hard act to follow, and The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps does unfortunately have a touch of sophomore syndrome to it. Haunted by repetitive nightmares, archaeology student Sian joins a dig at the old abbey in Whitby, Yorkshire. Here she meets an arrogant medical student from London named Mack, who shares with her an old parchment in a bottle his late father found in the foundations of a local building. Their relationship grows as they try to safely extract and decipher the message within, which turns out to be a confession about a centuries-old murder. So The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps is part romance, part historical mystery. It reminded me, on reflection, of J.L. Carr’s A Month in the Country. (Which, funnily enough, I reviewed exactly a year ago to the day.) Both are short books are about a memorable time in a person’s life, in a place they don’t normally live, visiting for a very specific task; the time and place unusual only in that it’s unusual for them, breaking them out of their normal routines and leaving them aware even as they live that time that it’s quite ephemeral. That was long-winded; I’m sure the Germans have a word for it.
Anyway, I found The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps engaging enough while I was reading it but not particularly memorable. It felt very much to me like an uncertain second novel after the huge success of Faber’s debut.
Under the Skin was a brilliant debut novel and a hard act to follow, and The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps does unfortunately have a touch of sophomore syndrome to it. Haunted by repetitive nightmares, archaeology student Sian joins a dig at the old abbey in Whitby, Yorkshire. Here she meets an arrogant medical student from London named Mack, who shares with her an old parchment in a bottle his late father found in the foundations of a local building. Their relationship grows as they try to safely extract and decipher the message within, which turns out to be a confession about a centuries-old murder. So The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps is part romance, part historical mystery. It reminded me, on reflection, of J.L. Carr’s A Month in the Country. (Which, funnily enough, I reviewed exactly a year ago to the day.) Both are short books are about a memorable time in a person’s life, in a place they don’t normally live, visiting for a very specific task; the time and place unusual only in that it’s unusual for them, breaking them out of their normal routines and leaving them aware even as they live that time that it’s quite ephemeral. That was long-winded; I’m sure the Germans have a word for it.
Anyway, I found The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps engaging enough while I was reading it but not particularly memorable. It felt very much to me like an uncertain second novel after the huge success of Faber’s debut.
I found this one at a used bookstore and bought it after reading the first page thinking I was in for a creepy horror novella and while it wasn’t that at all I really enjoyed it. it was thriller, ghost story, and a gothic romance all wrapped into one short and lovely story and I’m so happy I picked it up.
fast-paced