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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My feelings about The Story of Lucy Gault are mixed. I liked the story well enough, although I found it terribly depressing. Maybe a little improbable, too? But I realize I'm seeing the story from the perspective of 2019 in America, where the search for a child's body would not end after a day or two, even if the sea was known to never give up its dead. But in 1920s Ireland, with unrest, threats of violence, and civil war having already prompted their flight preparations, then with devastating grief on top, maybe Heloise and Everard would have left so soon after Lucy disappeared.
Trevor's writing style was fine for me at the beginning, but seemed to change in Heloise and Everard's chapters. Stuffier, more stilted, harder to wade through. And then as the book went on, the stuffiness became constant. It wasn't an easy book to read for me.
The biggest thing that nagged at me is the concept of one small child's thoughtless action having such a monumental, lifelong effect on so many people. It seemed another improbability to me. Then again, there's this quote. I'm rambling on so I'll leave you with it:
Trevor's writing style was fine for me at the beginning, but seemed to change in Heloise and Everard's chapters. Stuffier, more stilted, harder to wade through. And then as the book went on, the stuffiness became constant. It wasn't an easy book to read for me.
The biggest thing that nagged at me is the concept of one small child's thoughtless action having such a monumental, lifelong effect on so many people. It seemed another improbability to me. Then again, there's this quote. I'm rambling on so I'll leave you with it:
In novels people ran away. And novels were a reflection of reality, of all the world's desperation and of its happiness, as much of one as of the other.
Beautifully written, but I had trouble sympathizing with the main characters: they seemed to quite simply decide that their circumstances were beyond their control. Lucy had the trappings of a fascinating, intelligent young woman yet her guilt at "losing" her parents was one-dimensional.
Which is the cause of greater regret: the things we did or the things we didn't (dare to) do?
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
slow-paced
I really wanted to like this but it was so slow and sad and mundane.
I would place this book next to The Reader and Atonement on my bookshelf. It's the heart wrenching story of a single tragic event and the horrific impact it had on the lives of numerous people, both directly and indirectly impacted. The third person narration used by Trevor kept me a bit emotionally detached, but the events were so tragic that it kept me engaged and quickly turning the pages.
A beautifully tragic story. It is amazing how one small decision can effect the lives of so many people, and subsequent decisions snowball until the people involved can't do anything but accept the lives they have been given to lead. Sad and heartfelt.