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A review by trisha_thomas
The House in the Orchard by Elizabeth Brooks
1.0
I'm not sure what to say about this one. Boring. I found myself cleaing, organizing bookshelves and doing laundry to avoid picking it back up and reading. It did help me get the housework done this week!
It's a 2 part story - but just barely. There are essentially just 3 or 4 chapters. In one, 1945, Peggy is reading a journal. The main part of the book is the journay/diary of a young sheltered girl in the 1870's. She's shallow and naive. She hasn't seen much of the world and has spent most of her time trying to sabotage governesses and her cook. She's cruel at times, confused by what does and does not hurt others. She has been treated cruelly by both torture but also indifference by both parents and her one sibling until she's not sure how to feel anything.
And that's the main part of the story. It's a few hundred pages of her sorting her thoughts and having awful ideas of hurting others but also how bored she is. It's page after page after page. I kept waiting for a really big revelation where she would grow and start to understand more of the world. I thought she might meet someone or be inspired to better herself or. . .anything. But no, it's just a lot of her dull day to day and her unhappiness at not understanding adults and those around her. Wish I'd liked it.
It's a 2 part story - but just barely. There are essentially just 3 or 4 chapters. In one, 1945, Peggy is reading a journal. The main part of the book is the journay/diary of a young sheltered girl in the 1870's. She's shallow and naive. She hasn't seen much of the world and has spent most of her time trying to sabotage governesses and her cook. She's cruel at times, confused by what does and does not hurt others. She has been treated cruelly by both torture but also indifference by both parents and her one sibling until she's not sure how to feel anything.
And that's the main part of the story. It's a few hundred pages of her sorting her thoughts and having awful ideas of hurting others but also how bored she is. It's page after page after page. I kept waiting for a really big revelation where she would grow and start to understand more of the world. I thought she might meet someone or be inspired to better herself or. . .anything. But no, it's just a lot of her dull day to day and her unhappiness at not understanding adults and those around her. Wish I'd liked it.