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broccolimom 's review for:
Shrines of Gaiety
by Kate Atkinson
3.25 stars rounded down to 3.
I am a big Kate Atkinson fan. Life After Life is one of my favorite books. Her style of writing contemporarily relatable historical fiction speaks to me. I have also enjoyed her detective stories.
This book, however, missed the mark for me.
I have a suspicion that I might have liked it better had I read it rather than listened to it. The narrator, Jason Watkins, was good and his voice was clear. His accents were great. But when I read a story featuring female protagonists, I think I really prefer to hear the story in a female voice.
That said, Shrines of Gaiety takes place in the 1920s Soho Clubs, in the days following the Great War. It is the story of a crime matriarch, Nellie Coker, her six children, and those that aim to take her down. It is also the story of the young girls that were the unwitting victims of those criminal enterprises. Apparently, it is loosely based on the real "Queen of the Clubs" Kate Meyrick.
I can't bring myself to give this a raving review because I found the occasionally sneering narration distracting. However, I really think I would have enjoyed it more in written form.
I am a big Kate Atkinson fan. Life After Life is one of my favorite books. Her style of writing contemporarily relatable historical fiction speaks to me. I have also enjoyed her detective stories.
This book, however, missed the mark for me.
I have a suspicion that I might have liked it better had I read it rather than listened to it. The narrator, Jason Watkins, was good and his voice was clear. His accents were great. But when I read a story featuring female protagonists, I think I really prefer to hear the story in a female voice.
That said, Shrines of Gaiety takes place in the 1920s Soho Clubs, in the days following the Great War. It is the story of a crime matriarch, Nellie Coker, her six children, and those that aim to take her down. It is also the story of the young girls that were the unwitting victims of those criminal enterprises. Apparently, it is loosely based on the real "Queen of the Clubs" Kate Meyrick.
I can't bring myself to give this a raving review because I found the occasionally sneering narration distracting. However, I really think I would have enjoyed it more in written form.