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pattydsf's review
3.0
”The drive to Maine was longer than either of them had imagined. Lottie and Rose had decided on renting a Subaru in a burst of enthusiasm about New England, but now, as Rose pounded along the endless grayness of I-95 North, she felt driving up together had been a very bad idea.”
I will be honest, if reading wasn’t so difficult right now, I might have given up on this book. I didn’t realize it was based on Enchanted April when I checked it out. I should have known, but it just didn’t occur to me.
I say that finding the right books has been hard. That probably looks like a lie given that this is the 136th book I have read this year. Also I have found some really good books. However, there have been quite a few nights that I play games on my iPad rather than read. That is not like me.
Back to my book review. This was a perfectly good novel. Bowen created people that seem real to me and their problems, although different than mine, seem like actual issues for some people. The island in Maine seemed very nice. I just could take this book or leave it. It left few marks on me.
I am sure there are plenty of people who have loved this story and I hope that for them, Bowen writes some more.
I will be honest, if reading wasn’t so difficult right now, I might have given up on this book. I didn’t realize it was based on Enchanted April when I checked it out. I should have known, but it just didn’t occur to me.
I say that finding the right books has been hard. That probably looks like a lie given that this is the 136th book I have read this year. Also I have found some really good books. However, there have been quite a few nights that I play games on my iPad rather than read. That is not like me.
Back to my book review. This was a perfectly good novel. Bowen created people that seem real to me and their problems, although different than mine, seem like actual issues for some people. The island in Maine seemed very nice. I just could take this book or leave it. It left few marks on me.
I am sure there are plenty of people who have loved this story and I hope that for them, Bowen writes some more.
reader_fictions's review
3.0
Given my rather whelming experience with The Enchanted April, I wasn’t that thrilled to start Enchanted August, but it turned out to be thoroughly pleasant and more compelling than the story it retells.
One of the big strengths of Enchanted August is that Bowen spends more time on the characters and less time on description. Also, it doesn’t take a full third of the novel for the lost souls to actually travel to their destination as it did in April.
Bowen makes a few really interesting changes to the narrative, like changing the oldest woman, Beverly, to a gay man mourning the loss of his beloved and his cat. Overall, I think Bowen really captures the spirit of the characters from April, while making them American and modern. It was very much the same concept rewritten but still felt fresh despite the fact that I’d just read April.
My only concern is that Bowen did a bit too good of a job making the husbands seem like rather shitty humans. It does fit, but I’m left hoping Rose will move on, which isn’t what I’m supposed to want for her. They’re rather too like the Emma Thompson story line in Love Actually, which always kills my feels. On the other hand, Bowen improves upon Von Arnim’s instalove romance. She sets up a more believable foundation for the instalove at any rate; she worked with what she had.
Enchanted August is a solid retelling. Good work, Bowen.
One of the big strengths of Enchanted August is that Bowen spends more time on the characters and less time on description. Also, it doesn’t take a full third of the novel for the lost souls to actually travel to their destination as it did in April.
Bowen makes a few really interesting changes to the narrative, like changing the oldest woman, Beverly, to a gay man mourning the loss of his beloved and his cat. Overall, I think Bowen really captures the spirit of the characters from April, while making them American and modern. It was very much the same concept rewritten but still felt fresh despite the fact that I’d just read April.
My only concern is that Bowen did a bit too good of a job making the husbands seem like rather shitty humans. It does fit, but I’m left hoping Rose will move on, which isn’t what I’m supposed to want for her. They’re rather too like the Emma Thompson story line in Love Actually, which always kills my feels. On the other hand, Bowen improves upon Von Arnim’s instalove romance. She sets up a more believable foundation for the instalove at any rate; she worked with what she had.
Enchanted August is a solid retelling. Good work, Bowen.
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