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misslisa11 's review for:
Pelican Girls
by Julia Malye
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Book 55 of 2024: Pelican Girls by Julia Malye
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In 1720 Paris, La Salpêtrière hospital has too many occupants and not enough beds. Halfway across the world, France’s colony in the wilds of North America has space to spare and needs families to fill it. So the director of the hospital rounds up nearly a hundred female “volunteers” of childbearing age—orphans, prisoners, and mental patients—to be shipped to New Orleans. Among this group are three unlikely friends: a sharp-tongued twelve-year old orphan, a mute ‘madwoman,’ and an accused abortionist. Charlotte, Pétronille, and Geneviève, along with the dozens of other women aboard La Baleine, have no knowledge of what lies ahead and no control over their futures. Strangers brought together by fate, these brave and fierce young women will face extraordinary adversity, but also the private trauma of heartbreak and unrequited love, children born and lost, cruelty and unexpected pleasure, and a friendship forged in fire that will sustain through the years.
Phyllis’s Former Students Book Club read for April! I really wanted to love this book as it sounded so interesting from the premise but I had a hard time getting into it. The book was extremely character-driven and parts of the narratives were compelling but I had a hard time following a lot of the stories and lost interest in the characters at many points. The book was incredibly well researched and I appreciated the author’s intentions to give voice to the lost women of history. However, the novel didn’t really have much of a plot structure and was kind of all over the place at times, which made me disengage or feel confused. The writing itself was beautiful. I think I just had higher expectations for this book and it lacked the execution necessary to meet them.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In 1720 Paris, La Salpêtrière hospital has too many occupants and not enough beds. Halfway across the world, France’s colony in the wilds of North America has space to spare and needs families to fill it. So the director of the hospital rounds up nearly a hundred female “volunteers” of childbearing age—orphans, prisoners, and mental patients—to be shipped to New Orleans. Among this group are three unlikely friends: a sharp-tongued twelve-year old orphan, a mute ‘madwoman,’ and an accused abortionist. Charlotte, Pétronille, and Geneviève, along with the dozens of other women aboard La Baleine, have no knowledge of what lies ahead and no control over their futures. Strangers brought together by fate, these brave and fierce young women will face extraordinary adversity, but also the private trauma of heartbreak and unrequited love, children born and lost, cruelty and unexpected pleasure, and a friendship forged in fire that will sustain through the years.
Phyllis’s Former Students Book Club read for April! I really wanted to love this book as it sounded so interesting from the premise but I had a hard time getting into it. The book was extremely character-driven and parts of the narratives were compelling but I had a hard time following a lot of the stories and lost interest in the characters at many points. The book was incredibly well researched and I appreciated the author’s intentions to give voice to the lost women of history. However, the novel didn’t really have much of a plot structure and was kind of all over the place at times, which made me disengage or feel confused. The writing itself was beautiful. I think I just had higher expectations for this book and it lacked the execution necessary to meet them.