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A worthy sequel - it starts off a bit slowly, but once it reaches its stride, this book is just as good as its predecessor. And Harrison clearly has not lost her touch for writing wonderful relationships.
4 and 1/2, technically, but who's counting?
I loved this book, which surprised no one, lease of all myself, as all you need to do is mention that you're reselling Jane Eyre and I am sold.
And that's really it for the plot. The storyline is classic, but what makes Livesey's story so good is that she doesn't simply recreate Jane in 1960s Scotland, but she imagines what a different character, Gemma, would be like in a situation that is parallel to Jane's though not an exact repeat. She's not afraid to do things differently or to deviate from the original and that's what makes this book a really good read rather than yet another reworking of everyone's (alright, just mine) favorite plot.
The book's strongest and weakest point lies in Gemma's relationship with her Rochester. Livesey actually improves upon the original, IMHO, by making Gemma's journey after leaving a time for her to grow up rather than just killing time until happily ever after. (I get the feeling this book was written by someone who, like me, tends to skip the St John Rivers bits of Jane Eyre). But I also found Gemma's reason for running a bit too...contrived. I mean, we all who have read the original know that the heroine needs to leave at this point in the narrative, but Livesey never quite makes Gemma's internal reasoning feel like more than a convenient plot point. I was more or less willing to buy it by the end, when it became clear to me that Livesey wanted Gemma's reasoning to look foolish and for the character to come to that realization, but I still felt that, in the moment, she was being more foolish than she should be.
I'm nitpicking; the book was lovely both as an homage to Jane Eyre and as a work in its own right that is about finding one's home.
I loved this book, which surprised no one, lease of all myself, as all you need to do is mention that you're reselling Jane Eyre and I am sold.
And that's really it for the plot. The storyline is classic, but what makes Livesey's story so good is that she doesn't simply recreate Jane in 1960s Scotland, but she imagines what a different character, Gemma, would be like in a situation that is parallel to Jane's though not an exact repeat. She's not afraid to do things differently or to deviate from the original and that's what makes this book a really good read rather than yet another reworking of everyone's (alright, just mine) favorite plot.
The book's strongest and weakest point lies in Gemma's relationship with her Rochester. Livesey actually improves upon the original, IMHO, by making Gemma's journey after leaving a time for her to grow up rather than just killing time until happily ever after. (I get the feeling this book was written by someone who, like me, tends to skip the St John Rivers bits of Jane Eyre). But I also found Gemma's reason for running a bit too...contrived. I mean, we all who have read the original know that the heroine needs to leave at this point in the narrative, but Livesey never quite makes Gemma's internal reasoning feel like more than a convenient plot point. I was more or less willing to buy it by the end, when it became clear to me that Livesey wanted Gemma's reasoning to look foolish and for the character to come to that realization, but I still felt that, in the moment, she was being more foolish than she should be.
I'm nitpicking; the book was lovely both as an homage to Jane Eyre and as a work in its own right that is about finding one's home.
So this more rightly deserves a 2.5 or maybe even closer to a three, but my disappointment colors my reviewing and I expected to really enjoy this book.
This novel was, overall, well written in the sense that the sentences were well constructed and descriptions were evocative. It did, however, have two glaring flaws that I felt ruined the experience for me.
1) It was badly structured. The story, as far as I could tell, demanded the reader's sympathy (if not empathy) for the main character, yet was structured in such a way that made me feel distant from her. It tried for empathy, but did so badly and I found that many of Patchett's later narrative moves relied on a sympathy that she had entirely failed to build to begin with.
2) This had to be the most predictable and formulaic story I have read in a long time. Every single aspect of the plot was completely telegraphed and unsurprising. The story not only traded on cliches, it made no move to get beyond them.
Also, at one point, Patchett used "enormity" to mean enormousness. It doesn't. I nearly returned the book to the library then and there.
So, yes, a huge disappointment especially because, on the level of basic sentences, she is clearly a skilled craftswoman.
This novel was, overall, well written in the sense that the sentences were well constructed and descriptions were evocative. It did, however, have two glaring flaws that I felt ruined the experience for me.
1) It was badly structured. The story, as far as I could tell, demanded the reader's sympathy (if not empathy) for the main character, yet was structured in such a way that made me feel distant from her. It tried for empathy, but did so badly and I found that many of Patchett's later narrative moves relied on a sympathy that she had entirely failed to build to begin with.
2) This had to be the most predictable and formulaic story I have read in a long time. Every single aspect of the plot was completely telegraphed and unsurprising. The story not only traded on cliches, it made no move to get beyond them.
Also, at one point, Patchett used "enormity" to mean enormousness. It doesn't. I nearly returned the book to the library then and there.
So, yes, a huge disappointment especially because, on the level of basic sentences, she is clearly a skilled craftswoman.
Patricia McKillip's story is sweet and compelling, but it's McKillip's writing - sparse, yet eloquent - that makes the story work for me. Her writing is incredibly distinct and I don't think any other writer could get away with her paucity and still tell such a fully realized story.
She's enjoyable to read, but really fun to study in terms of trying to understand how the written word "works".
She's enjoyable to read, but really fun to study in terms of trying to understand how the written word "works".
Before reading this book, I never understood why Dickens has the literary reputation he has. This book is a masterpiece of plot and one of the best-told stories I have ever read.
