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A review by aasplund
The Rosary by Florence L. Barclay
3.0
What a fun and sweet little book!
This book was ultimately enjoyable for me, but many parts of it felt problematic (which I'll explain more below). I think if I had a greater understanding of the literary culture of the early 20th century, I could overlook many of my critiques. Even understanding a bit about gender relations in that era have helped me to be kinder to this book than I would be normally. Looking at this book through a modern lens leads to some harsh critiques. However, when one simply lets themselves get caught up in the romance and drama of the story, it's much more enjoyable. That being said, while I was enthralled while reading, looking back on the book, I could not forgot the problems that had eluded me as I read.
For the first 1/3 of this book, I was incredibly bored. There were pages and pages of unnecessary details and small conversations and lengthy stories that people told amongst themselves. However, once the actual plot got going, I was hooked and could hardly put the book down. While I knew exactly how it was going to end up, I was sure exactly how this ending would be achieved. I had to keep reading to find out.
And I think that's where I started having some issues with the plot. It was so much like many romance novels I've read - you know the heroine and hero will be happy together in the end, but the scheme to get to that point is so convoluted that it couldn't possibly work out, could it? It was difficult for me to wrap my brain around how our lovers would come together.
I was also kind of bothered by the heroine's willful exploitation of her lover's disability. It felt kind of mean and nasty - especially when other characters would encourage or help her exploit him (by staying in the room when he thought she'd left, by not revealing her identity from the beginning, etc). And if you're so certain that's he's upset about his new disability, why are you taking advantage of it for your own ends? It felt unfair to me.
Many of the reviews I read compared this book with Jane Austen. Now, on that front, I will have to disagree (though the basic premise in the first 1/3 of the novel reminded me greatly of Persuasion). In fact, most of my issues with this novel stem from making that comparison in my mind. While Jane Austen's characters can definitely be melodramatic, most of that is to display the character's weaknesses or for comedic effect (i.e. Mrs. Bennett). However, the characters in The Rosary were always completely serious in their melodrama and this made it difficult for me to relate to them much. They were players in a soap opera, not real people. Austen's books also have a depth (and a critique of society) that The Rosary lacked so, while I can understand the comparison, I strongly disagree -The Rosary is no Persuasion and it never will be.
Lovers of romance stories will enjoy this book, as will those who enjoy stories set in the early 20th century.
This book was ultimately enjoyable for me, but many parts of it felt problematic (which I'll explain more below). I think if I had a greater understanding of the literary culture of the early 20th century, I could overlook many of my critiques. Even understanding a bit about gender relations in that era have helped me to be kinder to this book than I would be normally. Looking at this book through a modern lens leads to some harsh critiques. However, when one simply lets themselves get caught up in the romance and drama of the story, it's much more enjoyable. That being said, while I was enthralled while reading, looking back on the book, I could not forgot the problems that had eluded me as I read.
For the first 1/3 of this book, I was incredibly bored. There were pages and pages of unnecessary details and small conversations and lengthy stories that people told amongst themselves. However, once the actual plot got going, I was hooked and could hardly put the book down. While I knew exactly how it was going to end up, I was sure exactly how this ending would be achieved. I had to keep reading to find out.
And I think that's where I started having some issues with the plot. It was so much like many romance novels I've read - you know the heroine and hero will be happy together in the end, but the scheme to get to that point is so convoluted that it couldn't possibly work out, could it? It was difficult for me to wrap my brain around how our lovers would come together.
I was also kind of bothered by the heroine's willful exploitation of her lover's disability. It felt kind of mean and nasty - especially when other characters would encourage or help her exploit him (by staying in the room when he thought she'd left, by not revealing her identity from the beginning, etc). And if you're so certain that's he's upset about his new disability, why are you taking advantage of it for your own ends? It felt unfair to me.
Many of the reviews I read compared this book with Jane Austen. Now, on that front, I will have to disagree (though the basic premise in the first 1/3 of the novel reminded me greatly of Persuasion). In fact, most of my issues with this novel stem from making that comparison in my mind. While Jane Austen's characters can definitely be melodramatic, most of that is to display the character's weaknesses or for comedic effect (i.e. Mrs. Bennett). However, the characters in The Rosary were always completely serious in their melodrama and this made it difficult for me to relate to them much. They were players in a soap opera, not real people. Austen's books also have a depth (and a critique of society) that The Rosary lacked so, while I can understand the comparison, I strongly disagree -The Rosary is no Persuasion and it never will be.
Lovers of romance stories will enjoy this book, as will those who enjoy stories set in the early 20th century.