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A review by loubraryoftheforest
Winchelsea by Alex Preston
2.0
Warning, spoiler alert with this one.
I was so excited to read this. At last, a book set in my favourite place, that would bring to life the true tales I’ve grown up with, and the places that are in my blood. It promised so much from the way it’s described, and the reviews on the cover… including a comparison to the wonderful du maurier….sadly, it did not deliver. Occasionally offering an adventurous tale of smugglers and secrets, it just didn’t stand up to scrutiny and wasn’t sure what sort of book it wanted to be. It jumps about sometimes with long passages leading nowhere, then other times things happening so fast they are unbelievable.
It started off with intrigue, a tale retold from another who heard it first hand, of a girl, rescued at birth, raised with intention, but destined to become her own person, strong brave and independent. But just when you are getting into her story, a child she still is at this point, it goes off on such a tangent I was confused what the author was even thinking. It goes from a smugglers tale, based on real people, places, and events, a tale of a girl facing the loss of the only father she ever knew just as she learns he is not all she thought, to being about a child, for she is still a child of 16, exploring her burgeoning love for another woman, and her lust for her adopted brother…oh, and nearly being raped by her true father, and that’s where I lost interest.
I didn’t find the writing particularly engaging, the author throws in long antiquated words every so often as if to show off their intelligence, but it isn’t in keeping with the characters portrayed and just seemed pompous. It goes off on tangents about the Jacobite’s and the king over the water, that felt like they belonged to another book he wants to write, not part of this one, in fact he hints at further stories at one point, sigh. The original focus of the book is lost, and rushed at the end. In fact throughout its all over the place, unfinished threads, stories that start then go nowhere. Characters changing their character without explanation, I could go on. Did not satisfy this reader in any way, in fact I think I’d do a better job myself!
If you aren’t familiar with Winchelsea and it’s smugglers you probably won’t mind this so much. If you like a bawdy tale with sex, booze, sailing and bloodshed then give it a go. Just be prepared for abrupt story changes, unfinished threads, and a feeling that there was so much more to be explored.
Decide what your book is going to be about and stick with it! Are you writing an historical novel based on true characters, and events, or trying too hard to be both historical and modern but in a way that just seems predictable and dull. I honestly sighed out loud at one scene it was so unnecessarily obvious and designed to tick a box.
I hoped for more and how anyone could say it was like du maurier I can’t even begin to fathom, not even a tiny patch as good as her novels. Go there for real smugglers and pirates and a tale to keep you hooked, not here.
I was so excited to read this. At last, a book set in my favourite place, that would bring to life the true tales I’ve grown up with, and the places that are in my blood. It promised so much from the way it’s described, and the reviews on the cover… including a comparison to the wonderful du maurier….sadly, it did not deliver. Occasionally offering an adventurous tale of smugglers and secrets, it just didn’t stand up to scrutiny and wasn’t sure what sort of book it wanted to be. It jumps about sometimes with long passages leading nowhere, then other times things happening so fast they are unbelievable.
It started off with intrigue, a tale retold from another who heard it first hand, of a girl, rescued at birth, raised with intention, but destined to become her own person, strong brave and independent. But just when you are getting into her story, a child she still is at this point, it goes off on such a tangent I was confused what the author was even thinking. It goes from a smugglers tale, based on real people, places, and events, a tale of a girl facing the loss of the only father she ever knew just as she learns he is not all she thought, to being about a child, for she is still a child of 16, exploring her burgeoning love for another woman, and her lust for her adopted brother…oh, and nearly being raped by her true father, and that’s where I lost interest.
I didn’t find the writing particularly engaging, the author throws in long antiquated words every so often as if to show off their intelligence, but it isn’t in keeping with the characters portrayed and just seemed pompous. It goes off on tangents about the Jacobite’s and the king over the water, that felt like they belonged to another book he wants to write, not part of this one, in fact he hints at further stories at one point, sigh. The original focus of the book is lost, and rushed at the end. In fact throughout its all over the place, unfinished threads, stories that start then go nowhere. Characters changing their character without explanation, I could go on. Did not satisfy this reader in any way, in fact I think I’d do a better job myself!
If you aren’t familiar with Winchelsea and it’s smugglers you probably won’t mind this so much. If you like a bawdy tale with sex, booze, sailing and bloodshed then give it a go. Just be prepared for abrupt story changes, unfinished threads, and a feeling that there was so much more to be explored.
Decide what your book is going to be about and stick with it! Are you writing an historical novel based on true characters, and events, or trying too hard to be both historical and modern but in a way that just seems predictable and dull. I honestly sighed out loud at one scene it was so unnecessarily obvious and designed to tick a box.
I hoped for more and how anyone could say it was like du maurier I can’t even begin to fathom, not even a tiny patch as good as her novels. Go there for real smugglers and pirates and a tale to keep you hooked, not here.