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A review by swrrlgrrl
The Dark Sister by Rebecca Goldstein
2.0
The Dark Sister was a complicated novel, often hard to read. It gets off to a very slow, plodding start, especially when we meet the figure of William James. In a twist of irony, late in the book, the novelist-character Hedda's literary editor points out that no one has the time to read the kind of winding and self-indulgent sentences that describe William's wandering the countryside, etc. I wish Rebecca Goldstein had followed the fictional editor's guidance.
Once you get over the hump of the first half of the book, it does become an interesting mash-up of a story, borrowing from Victorian thrillers like the Lady in White, as well as both James brothers' works and styles. However, the final feeling I was left with was that this was more a college professor's literary self-indulgence than a true novel written for actual readers.
Once you get over the hump of the first half of the book, it does become an interesting mash-up of a story, borrowing from Victorian thrillers like the Lady in White, as well as both James brothers' works and styles. However, the final feeling I was left with was that this was more a college professor's literary self-indulgence than a true novel written for actual readers.