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A review by diana_eveline
An Experiment In Love by Hilary Mantel
3.0
“So many years of preparation, for what was called adult life: was it for this?”
After years of preparing for it, Carmel McBain goes to university in 1970, London. From a young age, she showed promise in academia and her parents were eager for her to do well, perhaps even a little too eager. At school, her curiosity was punished many times over since it was not how a young girl should behave. Now that she is established at a good university, she can let out a sigh of relief. Or so she thought... She can easily keep up with the work but she is quickly running out of money. The kitchens barely feed the students a proper meal and Carmel goes the extra mile on saving money by skipping lunches and have tiny breakfasts. Food is the only thing she feels she has any control over and she quickly deteriorates. Disaster strikes when she is finally recovering in the care of her friends.
This book was not entirely my thing. I didn't dislike it, I quite liked some elements of it. I really understand the development of her eating disorder and saw it coming before it had manifested itself into something that nearly swallowed her whole. The one thing that I struggled with a bit was Karina. Not just her ways but also who she was/is. When the building went up into flames and Karina's roommate was still in her room and Karina was outside with the fur coat, I got so angry. I couldn't properly make out how Carmel drew conclusions from this but she seemed to avoid coming to a detrimental conclusion. Not me, Karina must have locked her in and sentenced her to death in doing so. Horrible...
Overall, an interesting read. It just didn't manage to hold my attention quite like most books do.
After years of preparing for it, Carmel McBain goes to university in 1970, London. From a young age, she showed promise in academia and her parents were eager for her to do well, perhaps even a little too eager. At school, her curiosity was punished many times over since it was not how a young girl should behave. Now that she is established at a good university, she can let out a sigh of relief. Or so she thought... She can easily keep up with the work but she is quickly running out of money. The kitchens barely feed the students a proper meal and Carmel goes the extra mile on saving money by skipping lunches and have tiny breakfasts. Food is the only thing she feels she has any control over and she quickly deteriorates. Disaster strikes when she is finally recovering in the care of her friends.
This book was not entirely my thing. I didn't dislike it, I quite liked some elements of it. I really understand the development of her eating disorder and saw it coming before it had manifested itself into something that nearly swallowed her whole. The one thing that I struggled with a bit was Karina. Not just her ways but also who she was/is. When the building went up into flames and Karina's roommate was still in her room and Karina was outside with the fur coat, I got so angry. I couldn't properly make out how Carmel drew conclusions from this but she seemed to avoid coming to a detrimental conclusion. Not me, Karina must have locked her in and sentenced her to death in doing so. Horrible...
Overall, an interesting read. It just didn't manage to hold my attention quite like most books do.