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A review by sarahanne8382
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
4.0
A. S. Byatt's most recent novel is a sprawling coming of age story focusing on several related English families during the decades leading up to WWI. It's a story you've heard over and over again about the rapid societal changes following the Victorian Era, and yet Byatt gets you interested in her myriad cast so that you have to find out how they all end up.
Our story centers around the family of Olive Wellwood, mother of a large brood and author of fairy tales and stories for children and a social liberal. Her children as well as the children of families they socialize with come of age during this period and discover that while the world changes around them, their place within it isn't always where they expected. The Benedict Fludd family offers a stark contrast with the tyrannical potter father scaring his wife and daughters into submission to his artistic whims. Then there are the Wellwood cousins, the museum curator's family, the Warren siblings, and the German puppeteers. This is definitely a full cast, but with nearly 700 pages, their stories all get told.
I really don't read many long books anymore, so my main gripe is that this dense and detailed book took so long to read that it seemed even longer than than the number of pages would suggest. I'll admit, though, that I didn't read every word (which is really rare for me), especially when Byatt rambled on about this or that matter of cultural, historical, or political significance. If you like historical fiction, especially with a British focus, or complicated family relationships and aren't scared off by the size of this one, I'd totally check it out.
Our story centers around the family of Olive Wellwood, mother of a large brood and author of fairy tales and stories for children and a social liberal. Her children as well as the children of families they socialize with come of age during this period and discover that while the world changes around them, their place within it isn't always where they expected. The Benedict Fludd family offers a stark contrast with the tyrannical potter father scaring his wife and daughters into submission to his artistic whims. Then there are the Wellwood cousins, the museum curator's family, the Warren siblings, and the German puppeteers. This is definitely a full cast, but with nearly 700 pages, their stories all get told.
I really don't read many long books anymore, so my main gripe is that this dense and detailed book took so long to read that it seemed even longer than than the number of pages would suggest. I'll admit, though, that I didn't read every word (which is really rare for me), especially when Byatt rambled on about this or that matter of cultural, historical, or political significance. If you like historical fiction, especially with a British focus, or complicated family relationships and aren't scared off by the size of this one, I'd totally check it out.