A review by schopflin
The Great Passion by James Runcie

slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I'm not sure what I was missing here. This book had the stilted dialogue and unconvincing situations that is the hallmark of indifferent historical fiction. The setting should have thrilled me, as I have sung Bach's Matthew Passion twice in full. But it felt a bit contrived. There's a lot in here about grief which I thought was well-done, but the main character is so young and utterly lacking in personality that I felt detached from the sadness in the story. 
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