Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
A long, slow-moving, character-driven, exhaustively researched look at life in Oxford, England, during the Great War, focusing on the people who worked in the Oxford Press bindery. I love Oxford and the Oxford English Dictionary, so I enjoyed the setting.
I found main character Peggy fairly annoying, and the ending was rushed.
I found main character Peggy fairly annoying, and the ending was rushed.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Although I was interested in the topic and description of the book, I found it somewhat less engaging the "Dictionary of Lost Words."
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
The desire to want more than your station allows is strongly explored in this novel.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Just beautiful I was lucky enough to start this while on a canal boat holiday starting in Oxford just where the book was set gave me an interesting insight into the life of Peg. I loved the descriptions of intersectionality within the women ‘s rights movement from that era a challenge that remains today.
I really enjoyed this book. Our narrator Peggy is a bright, ambitious bindery worker during WWI. She works alongside Oxford University, but she is a Town and not a Gown. I find this time period very fascinating as the war, the pandemic, and the suffrage movement are all happening at once. We hear about all 3 in this book. There were many interesting characters, but my favorite was Peggy's twin sister Maude. She is written as someone on the spectrum, but I did not find her to be a caricature of such. I also really liked Bastiaan, the Belgian soldier severely injured during Germany's Belgian invasion. I did think the story was a bit long but worth it overall.
Thanks to Netgalley for the book to review.
Thanks to Netgalley for the book to review.
I was enjoying this book, but then I reached two different very emotional intimate scenes between the main character and her boyfriend. There were also several expletives. The writing was really good in some places but also confused me in other spots. As someone who does not like descriptive romance I chose to stop reading this book.