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| Name : | Margaret C. |
My Reviews
I found this book very interesting - I had some knowledge about what has happened in Iran, but very little about Jews living in Iran. I found her writing style very "airy" (some have called it "lyrical") - her background in poetry shows. I sometimes felt like her expression of her emotions in reaction to events in the book was really the tip of the iceberg in terms of what she was feeling - I got the intensity of what she felt more from reading of her resulting actions rather than the description of what she was feeling. An example of this is when she talks about the return of the law requiring women to wear a veil - her feelings were really expressed in the small act of rebellion when she removes her veil in the dark alley. A very compelling story, it was a quick read.
I think it would work okay for book club discussion since it's the kind of book that imparts knowledge and opens one's eyes to a part of the world that a lot of us would otherwise not know about - this aspect alone might lead to a good discussion.
It didn't bother me that this would be a book without a happy ending. This story definitely held my attention and I kept reading because I wanted to know what really happened to Katie.
However, there were a few elements of the author's style of writing that I didn't care for - for example, it started out by Mr. Dees saying this is his story and he would be telling it when actually it is told by several of the characters and the author. I think I would have preferred just hearing from the characters and would have incorporated the background the author thought necessary in his chapters into memories or flashbacks of the characters. I would have liked to have had more from the character of Raymond R. Wright directly to get a better understanding of his point of view. I also thought the characters of Patsy and Gilley were under-developed - I wanted to able to identify with someone sympathetic in the book and it was difficult.
Another thing I really didn't like much was the "taunting" by Mr. Dees to the readers on a couple occasions to "decide for yourself and quit or continue reading the story now" - this seemed out-of-character for Mr. Dees and I felt like this was just a writer's ploy to encourage the reader to stick with the book. It made me think that maybe the author has doubts that his tale is holding my interest and is resorting to a last ditch effort to retain readership.
I think the author's depiction of a small Indiana town in the 60's was a little rosy but I liked the contrast between the Heights and the Gooseneck areas of town. I wanted to know more about the "hold" the glassworks had on the local economy and culture.
This was a light, fluffy, fun, entertaining read. I would say it's the kind of book not to be taken too seriously! I'm not a chick lit/romance fan and was a little disgusted with the character flaws of Keeley - her bad judgement, lack of self-control and vengefulness bothered me a bit. Several of the characters didn't seem to using common sense either but I think that did make the story entertaining.
I recommended with reservations just because it's the kind of book that although fun to read, doesn't lend itself to a lot of deep discussion. My group discussed some of the character flaws & story line and that was about all we had to say.
I enjoyed this book - the time-travel seemed to be a nice twist to add to a love story. The book alternates between Henry & Clare's points of view, as does the narration, which is a feature that I liked. Compared to other time-travel stories, this one related to real-life more so than any others I have read. Compared to other love stories, the time-travel was similar to stories where the characters flash back to the past.
Interestingly, in our club about half of the group could not get into the story and gave up never finishing the book.
My only criticism is that I think it would have been better if it had been about 2/3 the size it was - I think it could have benefitted from more editting.
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