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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
The two main characters are likeable AND believable. The book was paced well and the writer had good command of the descriptions of Glasgow, Sydney, and Tasmania. Bonus: this book makes me pine for a vacation to Australia.
I read this book as the January selection for our book club. I had never heard of it before, but it was suggested by one of our members. It's the story of a professional ballerina, Emma, who lives in London and gets injured and cannot dance anymore, and her grandmother, Beattie, who leaves her a homestead in Australia. Emma goes to Australia to check out the place and discovers many remarkable things about her grandmother's life that she didn't know. Beattie had quite a life. She was very independent and was put down and picked herself back up several times. The way she handled the things that happened to her was inspiring. Emma went through a period of self-discovery herself and turned her life around so that she cared more about other people and was less self-centered. The book went back and forth with sections about Beattie, then sections about Emma. It moved along and was never dull or sluggish. There was always something happening. The things that happened were predictable in a sense...there were no big twists...and the ending was satisfying. I would have liked to have had one more page though to experience the final reaction. You'll know what that means when you read the book!
I really enjoyed this story! Ever since I read The Thornbirds, I've had a weakness for stories set in Australia. Despite the fact that the book was over 500 pages long, I was wanting more information about the life of Beattie. This is the only reason I gave it 4*s. Definitely on my short list for my book club choice.
Wow! I didn't expect to be sucked into Wildflower Hill the way that I was! The whole book could've focused on Beattie's storyline and I would have been happy (and rated this five stars!). I love that Freeman allowed the MC to get human, to face true hardships and make mistakes. That made the story for me. The history of Beattie's life - the cultural atmosphere, the character traits, the kind of "sins" one would encourage avoiding - felt realistic.
I wasn't a big fan of Emma's storyline. Beattie's has so much more life and passion written into it that I wish the book was only about her.
I wasn't a big fan of Emma's storyline. Beattie's has so much more life and passion written into it that I wish the book was only about her.
Rating: 8/10
Wildflower Hill tells the story of two women: Beattie and Emma, grandmother and grandaughter. On the one hand, we have Beattie. Growing up in Glasgow in the 1920s, she falls pregnant from her married lover Henry. When her mother finds out she is pregnant, she kicks Beattie out of the house and leaves her to make her way on her own. She finally ends up in Australia, together with Henry, where they try to start a new life. Only it doesn't seem to go like Beattie wanted it to.
On the other hand, we have Emma. Emma is a world famous ballerina who has a devastating accident and is unable to keep on dancing professionally. At a loss for what to do, she decides to go back to Australia. There she finds out that her grandmother, Beattie, has left her a house in Tasmania, for when she is unable to dance anymore. She decides to go and is very surprised with what she finds out there.
Wildflower Hill really is a lovely story. The writing is very good and the characters are very well developed. During the course of the story, you get to feel so bad about all the things that have gone wrong with Beattie's life. At some point, I was pretty sure that nothing worse could happen. And then, it did. As for Emma, I can't say I really liked her in the beginning, as she was a little self-centered, but she definitely did some growing up throughout the book.
Though the book really was lovely, I felt that the ending was a bit too quick. Everything else seemed to happen at a regular pace and then, for some reason, the author seemed to be hurrying along events, so as to get to the actual ending. And I just loved that last chapter.
Originally posted at: http://funny-wool.blogspot.com/2011/07/wildflower-hill-by-kimberley-freeman.html
Wildflower Hill tells the story of two women: Beattie and Emma, grandmother and grandaughter. On the one hand, we have Beattie. Growing up in Glasgow in the 1920s, she falls pregnant from her married lover Henry. When her mother finds out she is pregnant, she kicks Beattie out of the house and leaves her to make her way on her own. She finally ends up in Australia, together with Henry, where they try to start a new life. Only it doesn't seem to go like Beattie wanted it to.
On the other hand, we have Emma. Emma is a world famous ballerina who has a devastating accident and is unable to keep on dancing professionally. At a loss for what to do, she decides to go back to Australia. There she finds out that her grandmother, Beattie, has left her a house in Tasmania, for when she is unable to dance anymore. She decides to go and is very surprised with what she finds out there.
Wildflower Hill really is a lovely story. The writing is very good and the characters are very well developed. During the course of the story, you get to feel so bad about all the things that have gone wrong with Beattie's life. At some point, I was pretty sure that nothing worse could happen. And then, it did. As for Emma, I can't say I really liked her in the beginning, as she was a little self-centered, but she definitely did some growing up throughout the book.
Though the book really was lovely, I felt that the ending was a bit too quick. Everything else seemed to happen at a regular pace and then, for some reason, the author seemed to be hurrying along events, so as to get to the actual ending. And I just loved that last chapter.
Originally posted at: http://funny-wool.blogspot.com/2011/07/wildflower-hill-by-kimberley-freeman.html
Really enjoyable historical novel in the style of Kate Morton-type stories, with a very light romantic aspect in the background. I love Kim Wilkins' supernatural novels and so this was a natural progression to me. I'll definitely read more of this style from her.
Really liked this book! I love any story that goes back and forth between past and present! I loved Beatties character so much! It ended well but I wish the author would have expanded the ending some and gave us just a little bit more, then it would've been perfect!