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A review by samturnspages
Lying With Lions by Annabel Fielding
4.0
Historical fiction is one of my comfort genre's so I was extremely excited to get stuck in to Lying with Lions. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exhange for an honest review.
TW; death of a child - mentioned, rape - mentioned, abortion - mentioned, suicide, murder.
What I liked:
- Historical fiction grounded in real historic events, some well known such as the break out of World War One, some lesser known like the Denaby miner's strike. This brings authenticity to the book and feels believable. For those that are interested, Fielding points out the specific events that inspired her in her acknowledgements and they're worth reading up on in their own right.
- It's refreshing, in historical fiction especially, to have a morally grey protagonist like Agnes. Her decision making is not based upon right or wrong, in fact, acknowledgement of right or wrong does not seem to come in to the novel much.
- Agnes' development through the years is so brilliantly executed. From family archivist to lover to something I really wasn't expecting.
- The family drama! I could honestly see this being adapted for a TV series with ease!
What I didn't like:
-The ending. I swear I've read half a dozen Historical Fiction books making use of the same style ending and that was the only thing that really let me down. I predicted it might happen within the first few chapters and I was disappointed to be proved right.
-I wanted more of Meredith Bryant. I really enjoyed her interactions with her brother Harold but there wasn't enough of them for me.
- A few grammatical errors, but they're not deal breakers at this point.
A solid 4 stars from me!
TW; death of a child - mentioned, rape - mentioned, abortion - mentioned, suicide, murder.
What I liked:
- Historical fiction grounded in real historic events, some well known such as the break out of World War One, some lesser known like the Denaby miner's strike. This brings authenticity to the book and feels believable. For those that are interested, Fielding points out the specific events that inspired her in her acknowledgements and they're worth reading up on in their own right.
- It's refreshing, in historical fiction especially, to have a morally grey protagonist like Agnes. Her decision making is not based upon right or wrong, in fact, acknowledgement of right or wrong does not seem to come in to the novel much.
- Agnes' development through the years is so brilliantly executed. From family archivist to lover to something I really wasn't expecting.
- The family drama! I could honestly see this being adapted for a TV series with ease!
What I didn't like:
-The ending. I swear I've read half a dozen Historical Fiction books making use of the same style ending and that was the only thing that really let me down. I predicted it might happen within the first few chapters and I was disappointed to be proved right.
-I wanted more of Meredith Bryant. I really enjoyed her interactions with her brother Harold but there wasn't enough of them for me.
- A few grammatical errors, but they're not deal breakers at this point.
A solid 4 stars from me!