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lisanne624's review against another edition
2.0
This book has an interesting premise. It begins in modern times when a lady is on the deck of a cruise ship. She had gone to graduate school in New York after college in Kentucky, even though her mentor encouraged her to go to California. She had felt she would be too backward and unsophisticated to make it in California. The bulk of the novel his her reimagined life if she had gone to California instead. The imaginings are interspersed with "downhome, folksy" letters from her mother back in Kentucky, reporting on gardening and life on the farm which our narrator, Ann, was so desperate to escape.
Ann's college days were in the late 1960s, so the events center around the counterculture movement happening in the San Francisco area of the time. Both the imagined life and the one Ann actually experienced in New York centered around her boyfriend, Jimmy. At the start of her musings on the alternate life, she does wonder about if things would have been different with Jimmy if she had met him in California instead.
The story really, really dragged in the middle, when Ann and Jimmy's courtship happened, and they were always forever going on about books they were reading, philosophers, song lyrics (I read more about the Beatles than I ever cared to), how all of these things were connected, etc. There are also plenty of seemingly insignificant side stories that seem to have nothing to do with anything but just drag things out even longer -- a landlady who has a ballerina statue stolen, a downstairs neighbor from India with an arranged fiance back home, lots of descriptions of drug usage and what happened during the "trips," etc.
The writing was enjoyable enough, but I really didn't care about poor Ann and her over analyzation every little thing nor her faithful reporting of long, tedious discussions on topics of no interest. If you have a fascination with the 1960s, it might be more enthralling, but I was just waiting for something interesting to happen. Still waiting . . .
I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway
Ann's college days were in the late 1960s, so the events center around the counterculture movement happening in the San Francisco area of the time. Both the imagined life and the one Ann actually experienced in New York centered around her boyfriend, Jimmy. At the start of her musings on the alternate life, she does wonder about if things would have been different with Jimmy if she had met him in California instead.
The story really, really dragged in the middle, when Ann and Jimmy's courtship happened, and they were always forever going on about books they were reading, philosophers, song lyrics (I read more about the Beatles than I ever cared to), how all of these things were connected, etc. There are also plenty of seemingly insignificant side stories that seem to have nothing to do with anything but just drag things out even longer -- a landlady who has a ballerina statue stolen, a downstairs neighbor from India with an arranged fiance back home, lots of descriptions of drug usage and what happened during the "trips," etc.
The writing was enjoyable enough, but I really didn't care about poor Ann and her over analyzation every little thing nor her faithful reporting of long, tedious discussions on topics of no interest. If you have a fascination with the 1960s, it might be more enthralling, but I was just waiting for something interesting to happen. Still waiting . . .
I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway
lizisreading_'s review against another edition
3.0
I love the premise of an older woman on a cruise ship reflecting on how life and how it could have turned out differently if she had gone to one college vs another. Unfortunately, it was a bit more romance than I was expecting. I think this could be a huge fit for others though, especially if they enjoy ‘60s nostalgia!
atticusmammy's review against another edition
1.0
I’ve tried many of Mason’s books because people are always carrying on about how good they are. They never hit the mark for me and neither did this one. It drags on so slowly and never caught my interest at all. I’m giving up on the author.
zoeelizabethk's review against another edition
4.0
Dear Ann was such an atmospheric historical fiction about the 60s and 70s. The way it was told was really interesting, and Mason does a lovely job of examining topics like the city/country divide, love, and family.
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