A review by indianajane
Belle Cora by Phillip Margulies

5.0

Excellent historical fiction. I love it when a book is well-written, the characters are complex and feel real, AND I learn something about a place and time that I previously had little familiarity with. I picked this book up from the new fiction shelves at the library based on the cover blurb. Over half of the books that I find this way end up going back unread. I started this one with hope, but much trepidation due to the nature of the main character. I was very quickly sucked in by the story and the writing. The writing in this book stays out of the way. First-person narratives often feel forced, but this never did. The writing carried the story beautifully. As I was reading it, I kept thinking, "Unless something changes, this is a five-star book." Nothing changed.