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A review by kathleenww
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
3.0
I'm definitely drawn to books and novels that feature books and poetry. So this one caught my eye immediately, and I also thought the story was a fun premise and was interested to see how the author handled it.
Unfortunately, this book was a solid "meh" for me. I couldn't wait to get done with it. I kept hoping it would be improve greatly at the end, but instead, I just found myself annoyed at her strangely old fashioned writing style: yes, I get that the story is written in the mid 1950s, but it just felt fake and stilted to me. And unnatural. Not to mention, the some of the subject matter (autistic child?) was treated in what I felt was a very contemporary manner, and the main characters obvious health issue weren't treated at all. I don't really want to address these writing/plot issues in depth since they might give away some of the main points of the book for those that are reading it, or plan to.
This is a "sliding doors"/what is reality? type story. Bookseller (not really that important to the story) Kitty wakes up from a strange dream where she is shown her "alternate" life, the one she lost when the man she was supposed to meet for drinks .) dies of a heart attack prior to their first meeting (not online, but via a personal ad. Her best friend is an extremely personable and companionable woman, named Frieda, who while very attractive, doesn't have a love interest of her own The two women are destined for spinsterhood, one a cat lady, and one, a possible lesbian (this is alluded to at the very end of the novel, in the most round about way possible without coming out and saying it...).
Kitty/Katharyn really has a difficult time with several big events in her life. She
s seeing what she believes to be the future in her dreams, which are oddly realistic, and leave her puzzled and strangely energized after awakening.
I felt like there was a lot of investment getting through a twisty turny plot, with these dream lives, without much return. Could have been charming, but fell flat for me. Not terrible, but not great, and a bit repetitive and boring times. Clearly, if you lived with someone who was not exactly in touch with reality for whatever reason (trauma, depression, schizophrenia), you would get them help, but that seems to be an issue in the novel that is completely ignored, and it seemed strange and hard fro me to buy into the whole thing.
Unfortunately, this book was a solid "meh" for me. I couldn't wait to get done with it. I kept hoping it would be improve greatly at the end, but instead, I just found myself annoyed at her strangely old fashioned writing style: yes, I get that the story is written in the mid 1950s, but it just felt fake and stilted to me. And unnatural. Not to mention, the some of the subject matter (autistic child?) was treated in what I felt was a very contemporary manner, and the main characters obvious health issue weren't treated at all. I don't really want to address these writing/plot issues in depth since they might give away some of the main points of the book for those that are reading it, or plan to.
This is a "sliding doors"/what is reality? type story. Bookseller (not really that important to the story) Kitty wakes up from a strange dream where she is shown her "alternate" life, the one she lost when the man she was supposed to meet for drinks .) dies of a heart attack prior to their first meeting (not online, but via a personal ad. Her best friend is an extremely personable and companionable woman, named Frieda, who while very attractive, doesn't have a love interest of her own The two women are destined for spinsterhood, one a cat lady, and one, a possible lesbian (this is alluded to at the very end of the novel, in the most round about way possible without coming out and saying it...).
Kitty/Katharyn really has a difficult time with several big events in her life. She
s seeing what she believes to be the future in her dreams, which are oddly realistic, and leave her puzzled and strangely energized after awakening.
I felt like there was a lot of investment getting through a twisty turny plot, with these dream lives, without much return. Could have been charming, but fell flat for me. Not terrible, but not great, and a bit repetitive and boring times. Clearly, if you lived with someone who was not exactly in touch with reality for whatever reason (trauma, depression, schizophrenia), you would get them help, but that seems to be an issue in the novel that is completely ignored, and it seemed strange and hard fro me to buy into the whole thing.