Rating: 
Summary: Anglophile female study in grave setting
Review: I was fascinated by this book. Chevalier's talent at presenting a story line via first person narratives is showcased here with turn of the twentieth century London as its base. The characters who tell us their stories are sectioned into the years 1901-1910, from the mourning of Queen Victoria to the mourning of King Edward. And their mostly upper middle class status sets the tone, a little rivalry between families whose grave sites end up side by side. Interestingly enough, the daughters of these two couples, the Waterhouses and the Colemans, become true friends. And from their day of first meeting as they gather in the cemetery in remembrance of Victoria, the girls, quite opposite in nature, are drawn to one another, despite their mothers' obvious distance. The whole plot centers on the trips Maude and Lavinia (Livy) and her little sister Ivy May make to the cemetery. It is their center of recreation. And it is there that Jenny, the Coleman maid who escorts them on their excursions, becomes entangled in a life-changing affair, while Maude and Livy become best friends of a most unlikely mate close to their age, Simon Field, the gravedigger's son. Simon's class rank is so far below that of the girls, of whom Maude's family ranks higher than Livy's, yet he is the best pal of these young girls. And it is Simon who will go to heroic measures to assist the girls in their hour of greatest need. The psuedo liberation of the upper class' sexual mores is an underlying theme in Kitty Coleman's life. And it is Kitty who becomes embroiled in the Suffragette movement of upper class women, adding color and suspense to the plot. Each voice of the various characters rings true to the person speaking, balancing the points of view of several generations and class ranks starting with the very strict and Victorian rank of Mother Edith Coleman, who wishes to control the behavior of her son's wife as well as his household. The spoiled and seemingly lazy Kitty contrasts dramatically with the straight laced Gertrude Waterhouse, who finds Kitty's rank a point of competition, yet who comes to truly mother Kitty's only child, Maude. For Gertrude is the ultimate modern housewife and mother. And each woman's "At Home" days conveniently conflict with one another, therefore eclipsing their chance at real socialization. On the other hand, with cricket as the draw, their husbands, Albert and Richard, strike up a cursory friendship that deepens with time. As Maude and Livy age, they face the erosion of Maude's family, although when real tragedy strikes they experience a time of growing apart as they mature. The servant class spokesladies of the Coleman cook, Mrs. Baker, and the housemaid, Jenny Whitby, flesh out the Edwardian times and the life of an upstairs/downstairs relationship. Typical to Chevalier's writing in her other novels, she masterfully builds the tension and suspense that makes the reader want to keep going. Therefore, this is an easy, fast read. And I do recommend it, particularly if you like to feel a part of a plot with characters who speak directly to you.
Rating: 
Summary: This is no "Pearl Earring"
Review: Having read Girl With a Pearl Earring and recommended it to several friends, I could hardly wait to dig into Ms. Chevalier's second effort. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect another masterpiece, but I had at least hoped for something better than the uninspiring Falling Angels. Though Ms. Chevalier does a yeoman's job of conjuring early 20th-century England, the story barely held my interest. The most glaring shortcoming is that by constantly changing the point of view among her characters, Ms. Chevalier never gives the reader a chance to know any of them. Wait, is this Maude speaking or Lavinia, Kitty or what's-her-name? The friendship between young girls of different socioeconomic backgrounds is plausible enough, but there is simply no depth or passion in their encounters that would explain what drew them and held them together all those years. They may have fancied themselves "best friends in the world," but their avowals seemed mere words masquerading as a true relationship. Throwing in a poverty-stricken young gravedigger as a foil for girls of privilege seemed contrived--it's highly unlikely that this threesome would have formed an alliance of the sort described or that it would have been allowed to continue. The story begins with coy references to spouse-swapping. One would think that this revelation might evoke some emotion in the speaker--revulsion, delight, anger, excitement, shame, pleasure? Perhaps it's detachment, yet it doesn't feel like that; the scene and the speaker are simply devoid of any identifable feeling. Apparently, even the author didn't know what to do with this plot device, because it falls by the wayside quickly. Kitty Coleman's ultimately tragic dissatisfaction is too tidily summed up: she is disappointed in her husband for not being the man she believed he could be. Since we barely hear from the unfortunate man, it's hard to be sympathetic to Kitty's plight. Had there been a balanced view of the marriage, and perhaps some development of the husband's character, it might have explained her loathing for him. As it is, he wafted through the story like a ghostly nonentity. And let's just say that a certain plot development (an affair between two of the characters) moved the story from point A to point B without once giving me a sense that it was worth ruining their lives over. Using actual historical figures and events as a backdrop in fiction is an effective and entertaining device, but at least in one instance it seemed forced. Kitty Coleman's conversion to the suffragette movement comes with no foreshadowing, no hint of the zeal she will bring to the cause. Blissfuly ignorant of women's lack of political power one moment, she leaps to embrace the cause with wild enthusiasm in the turn of a page. Because she is a cipher whose depth (if there is any) is not plumbed by the author, it is difficult to understand her motivation. Had the author given us some insight into Kitty's--or even her husband's--mind and soul, the outcome of the story would have been more believable. (See Irene and Soames in The Forsyte saga for an example of how it's done!) But her reaction is not to be gleaned from the writer's exposition of the character, only from one's own experience of frustration.
If I had to sum up this novel in one word, it would be "passionless." Chevalier would have done well to give us a little less fashion-of-the-day and a little more cri de coeur.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle Victorian Tale
Review: Before you turn too many pages you will be drawn into this delightful victorian tale. I loved Girl With A Pearl Earring and this story as well. While this book is of different subject matter, Tracy Chevalier's beautiful writing style shines through. Falling Angels promises to be time well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting, enthralling, highly moving
Review: I think of Falling Angels as a small treasure much the way I think of Chevalier's Girl With a Pearl Earring, two very different stories. Both are historical set pieces that have the gift of giving the reader a sense of immediacy. The reader is invited into the lives of two upper middle class families, particularly the females, one family following the status quo and one the unconventional as well as intellectual. The story spans a period of approximately ten years, the pivotal years between the death of Queen Victoria and her son King Edward VI, pivotal years for young girls coming of age in a new century with new rules, new possibilities, and new dangers. Each chapter is like a vignette into these lives that forces readers to draw their own conclusions as to what it all means. The story starts off slowly and much of it takes place in a cemetery in London modeled after the cemetery at Highgate. The physical and social life of the city come alive, cemetery and all, from the East End to the North of London, from Marble Arch to Hyde Park and a famous gathering of the Suffragette movement. It looks at first like a story about trivialities, about childhood games and squabbles and social snobbery, but ends with the deliverance of several punches that will leave the reader staggering and awed for a long time to come. A very moving work from a masterful storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: I'm adding Tracy Chevalier to my list of favorite authors!
Review: For the longest time I stayed away from period fiction. I wasn't interested in reading stories from the early 1900s or stories from England. I'm happy to say that Tracy Chevalier has changed all that. I actually read "Falling Angels" first, then went back and read "...Pearl Earring." While there are similarities between the two stories, the one marked difference is that Pearl Earring was told from the sole point of view of the housemaid - Falling Angels is told from various points of view. You can read the book in the eyes of any one of the characters in the story. You will never get lost either - you will always know who's point of view you are reading since Ms. Chevalier uses headings and always informs the reader whose point of view the next chapter is from. This is a wonderful way to tell a story. When there are several characters on the canvas, it is easy to get lost in who's telling who what and when, but with Ms. Chevalier's writing style, you always know who's feeling what and why or why a character chooses to act as they do. You can grow to love a character you once disliked, and trust the characters you distrusted in the beginning. I am anxious to read more of Ms. Chevalier's work and understand she is currently working on her next novel. I'm hoping it's out soon (I'm also looking for some of her earlier pieces of work which I understand are short stories), but in the meantime, I have Ms. Chevalier to thank for opening the door to stories told around this time period - I've since read some wonderful novels written about England and the early 1900s, late 1800s and I'm currently reading and enjoying "Girl in Hyacinth Blue." (about the painter Vermeer featured in Pearl Earring) My eyes have been opened to some wonderful story telling! Thank you and keep 'em coming!
Rating:
Summary: Personal Journal Reveals Hushed Secrets / Private Thoughts
Review: The popularity of "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (book and film), plus a review of *this* book by an acquaintance, convinced me, "read this book" ... read anything by this author. From the first page to the last, this book held my attention. I read it in one sitting, cover to cover, over several hours, unable to put it down. I was intrigued by the first entry in the book ... a rather risque confession by Kitty Coleman, that she had 'swapped husbands' at a New Year's Eve party, to show she was 'open-minded'. Furthermore, she questions her up-bringing, deemed "too much education for a woman" by some, during the Victorian era. It dawns on Kitty that her dissatisfaction with her marriage and life in general has a lot to do with inability to communicate with her husband on things that are *most* important to her. While she has a good life by the standards of the times, she is restless and dissatisfied -- she is looking for an outlet. Right from the start, this novel hooks the reader. It is from this major personal conflict that many "secret" events unfold, which later affect the lives of most of the characters in the book. This reader gives high praise for the subject matter and creartive writing ability of the author. The setting alone, where major events occur, unfold, is outstanding -- a graveyard, where two eleven year olds first meet and become "best friends". The technique of writing from the viewpoint of the first person, through the eyes of the person experiencing the event or recalling how they felt at the time, is perfect. It is unique, creative and highly effective for the subject and the era in which the events occured. Another outstanding feature of this book, is how the two families who are the main characters meet ... they both have graves in a famous cemetery, that are next to each other. Each makes a negative judgement about the selection of gravestone marker for their loved one ... this is so human, so real, such a fascinating a way to begin a story. After the two eleven year old girls become 'best friends', they befriend the grave-digger's son, Simon, who shows the girls the different 'angel' grave markers throughout the cemetery. The girls often come to visit the cemetery, view the angel markers and speak with Simon. They accompany the maid, who is sent on errands to town. However, besides errands, the maid has a personal agenda, she is having a romantic affair with one of the gravdiggers. We also learn, later, that Mrs. Kitty Coleman is also meeting someone at the cemetery. She has developed an intellectual relationship with Mr. John Jackson, the manager of the graveyard. This intellectual relationship gradually develops into a physical romantic affair. Along the way, Kitty discovers a "cause" which consumes much of her energy, the suffragettes. She dedicatea her time and energy to this one means of "freeing up women" from the limitations imposed by society ... this cause .... and her romance with Mr. John Jackson, eventually becomes her undoing. The book is worth reading to discover the means by which this occurs ... This one event has a major impact on the lives of most of the characters who provide journal entries in this book. One major life event in one family, leads to another totally unexpected crisis, that impacts the second family featured in the book, the Waterhouse family. The manner in which the author weaves the cemetery into the story ... from the highly worth the read. Learning how the lives of these two families intertwine, as they become "backyard neighbors" is fascinating. Most highly recommended. Erika Borsos (erikab93)
Rating:
Summary: Falling Angels - Great Read!
Review: I simply couldn't put this down. The beginning is a knock-out and the rest of the plot is so very powerful - it's a wonderful read. The prose are so well written, and beautifully crafted. I had images of thousands of white dresses rustling through Hyde Park, with two little girls signaling at each other across a distance from their bedroom windows, of the light vanishing as the sides of a grave collapses. This is a wonderful novel - I can't wait to read more from Chevalier.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: This is a story that takes place in a graveyard and that's exactly where this book belongs. After reading a flurry of good books, my good run came to an end with this disaster. The characters were stale, the narrative kept switching from person to person which could have been interesting but instead perpetuated the slow movement of the already snail paced plot. My biggest gripe was...WHO CARES? The novel was devoid of soul and leaves the reader without interest for the characters. Someone died and I barely blinked. Her historical perspective was poor as well, the setting was too weak to transport the reader to that era. I don't know why I finished this at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Falling angels
Review: The book starts off with the death of Queen Victoria and already it is apparent that Maude's Mother is lookin forward to change. Two familys who barely get along (just for their daughters, Maude and Livy) have different views on the future. The book start off slow but bye the second half of the book i couldn't put it down. Insightful on how the women's movement can affect their familys.
Rating:
Summary: I agree
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer in that Chevalier is one of the few authors whose books I'll pick up, just because her name is on the cover. I've read all of hers, and while "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is top on my list, "Falling Angels" is second. But I can understand some people's hesitation, especially if they got half-way through this excellent read, for while the first half is gentle and warm, the story turns dark. But then, the essence of drama is conflict, right? And we can't expect Chevalier to always do the same thing. The fact that she's written as many "different" books as she has is testament to her talent. But aside from her name and excellent premises, the best thing about Ms. C. is her writing style. It flows like water, effortlessly, like something written by McCrae (think "Bark of the Dogwood" or possibly some of Min's novels.) By all means, read this book, but don't pass up "Girl with A Pearl Earring" as it is her best effort. Also recommended: "Girl With a Pearl Earring," Empress Orchid, "Bark of the Dogwood.
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