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nuttyrachy's Reviews (495)
I was confused by this book. As a librarian myself, I sooooo wanted to love it, but it fell short of the mark.
The unfortunate situation which found the librarian falling in love with a married man and him encouraging it and seducing her didn't sit right with me at all. I listened to this as an audio book and I was constantly shouting out whilst listening to it in the car "No, don't do it you silly girl! He's a fool!" and when they spoke about his "loyalty" I "pffted" and said "yeah I'd like to hear your wife say the same!" Argh... it really got my back up and made me irritated by these characters. Apart from screaming "home wrecker" at her every so often... she obviously saw the situation for what it really was in the end (a bit too little too late though in my opinion) but there we have it. If they held out till the very end, when his wife left of her own accord, then they would've been free to have a relationship, this would have bumped it up to 4 stars.
I know that I cannot expect perfection when it comes to relationships in any novel, and that this really does happen on a day to day basis, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I think because I've been personally affected in my life by this type of immoral lifestyle, I cannot bring myself to feel sympathy for the characters taking part in it.
I quite enjoyed the story line with the children and the effect the librarian and the library had on their lives though. I was grateful for the ending when we skip forward a fair few decades and happened to find out all that really went on, and what became of them all. To be honest that's the main reason this got 3 stars at all! Without any of that side of this book, it would have easily been a 2.
The unfortunate situation which found the librarian falling in love with a married man and him encouraging it and seducing her didn't sit right with me at all. I listened to this as an audio book and I was constantly shouting out whilst listening to it in the car "No, don't do it you silly girl! He's a fool!" and when they spoke about his "loyalty" I "pffted" and said "yeah I'd like to hear your wife say the same!" Argh... it really got my back up and made me irritated by these characters. Apart from screaming "home wrecker" at her every so often... she obviously saw the situation for what it really was in the end (a bit too little too late though in my opinion) but there we have it. If they held out till the very end, when his wife left of her own accord, then they would've been free to have a relationship, this would have bumped it up to 4 stars.
I know that I cannot expect perfection when it comes to relationships in any novel, and that this really does happen on a day to day basis, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I think because I've been personally affected in my life by this type of immoral lifestyle, I cannot bring myself to feel sympathy for the characters taking part in it.
I quite enjoyed the story line with the children and the effect the librarian and the library had on their lives though. I was grateful for the ending when we skip forward a fair few decades and happened to find out all that really went on, and what became of them all. To be honest that's the main reason this got 3 stars at all! Without any of that side of this book, it would have easily been a 2.
This beautiful book is well worth anyone's time if they wish to be transported into another life. I so wish this circus really existed, but then again... would it actually be as good as my imagination? The wonder of fiction! Loved it all the way through.
