Falling Angels

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: I loved Girl with a Pearl Earring and couldn't put it down... and when I saw Chevalier wrote another book I bought it immediately. I was enthralled. I love the way she writes in this book where each chapter is written by one character. And each character you want to know more and more. I loved it! and can't wait for her to write another one.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing!
Review: This novel is set against the Victorian age and does a good job providing historical detail about the changing times. The interwined stories of the two families had the makings of a compelling tale but ended up being too contrived.

While being interviewed for this book, Tracy Chevalier said she got the idea to tell the story from different view points after reading Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible." Apparently, she had to rewrite "Falling Angels" almost in its entirety. I would have been interested to read that first draft -- part of my frustration with this novel was its chopiness. I never got enough information from the various characters or got to know their thoughts -- they simply reported the events.

Also, after listening to the interview, I could not help but make the comparison between Livy ("Fallen Angels") and Rachel ("Poisonwood Bible"). Both were vain, self-centered, and had such similar voices. I really wanted to like this book, and I think had Tracy Chevalier stuck to her previous writing style I would have -- it would have given this book an entirely different feel and energy.

Rating:
Summary: Stellar Second Novel From Extraordinarily Talented Author
Review: I am always a little wary of second novels, particularly ones which follow a debut as impressive as GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, but I am here to tell you that the talent which beamed from every page of GIRL shines more brightly still in FALLING ANGELS. Chevalier can take her place among luminaries such as Edith Wharton and James Joyce in her ability to closely observe the ordinary details of individual lives, elevating them to the extraordinary. In this second novel, Chevalier simultaneously unveils the threads of 8 (or more) lives which intersect at a cemetary. But the novel is about the living, and Chevalier brilliantly and effortlessly limns remarkable portraits of characters ranging in age from 5 to 50 with equal depth and ability. The writing is gorgeous, and the story of the friendship of two young girls coming of age in Edwardian London, the travails of their parents, and the clash of morals in a new age is nothing short of brilliant. Brava, Tracy Chevalier! Let's hope we don't have long to wait for her third effort. If she keeps topping herself with each novel, I predict a Pulitzer in her future. READ THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: I didn't want it to end
Review: I finished this book last night. And when I closed the cover, my first words were - my, what a wonderful book. Yes, as a few people have said, it is not Girl With A Pearl Earring. But I didn't want it to be. I read that book and loved it. I wanted to read a different book, not a cookie cutter one. And I got it with Falling Angels. I truly and completely loved this book. In certain ways I want to say I liked it better than Girl With A Pearl Earring, but I think I will just say that I loved both of them equally, just for different reasons. I found the characters in Falling Angels to be shallow at first. But then as I continued to turn the pages (faster and faster), I saw substance creeping in - and they turned into real people for me. There is one page that only has one line on it. But that one line caused me to cry out in anguish. I was sad when I finished this book - I want to know more and more about Maude and Lavinia and Simon. I can't wait for Chevalier's next book!

Rating:
Summary: Bad story nicely told
Review: It is not nearly as good as Girl the a Pearl Earring but nevertherless it is not a bad read. There are a lot of characters but they don't really express different oppinions, just tell what happened next. Because of that I found it difficult to get attached to any of the characters. I gave three stars for Chevalier writting style. Even though the story was not that great she still managed to tell it beautifuly.

Rating:
Summary: Beating the Jinx
Review: In baseball a fabulous rookie season is usually followed by a mediocre sophomore outing. This common phenomenon is called the Sophomore Jinx. Tracy Chevalier, following her wonderful "Girl with a Pearl Earring", flirts with, but finally avoids, the sophomore jinx. "Falling Angels" opens with the death of old Queen Victoria and ends with the death of her son King Edward nine years later. She studies two neighboring families; one comes from the borders of the upper class with slightly disappated attitudes, while the other is decidely middle class with traditional values. Each family has a daughter and it is their friendship which provides the locus for the book. Much of the book is set admidst the gravesites, monuments and stone angels of the neighborhood cemetary where the girls strike up a friendship with Simon, son a drunken gravedigger. The examination of the familyies' relationships, values, servants and attempts to cope with a rapidly changing society provide much of interest. In a recent interview Chevalier talked about being "stuck" and unable to finish this book until she determined to tell it from multiple points of view. The device is indeed interesting and makes this a quick read, but I wonder if all the voices will sound virtually the same to you as they did to me. This quibble aside, I think Tracy Chevalier promises to be one of our better new writers and I do recommend "Falling Angels"

Rating:
Summary: You eventually get used to it...
Review: I picked this book up because I heard that her previous book was well written. Once you get used to the fact that the book is written from 8 different people's perspectives, it's a pretty good read. However, it takes 20 pages or so to get used to it. I thought that the character's narratives brought the individuals to life (even if I did want to strangle some of them for their behavior).

The main story is about Lavinia and Maude's relationship for the 10 years between the deaths of Queen Victoria and her son King Edward. The story starts when they are 5 and ends when they are 14 or 15. Throughout this time, many things change in their worlds that they have to adjust to.

I would highly recommend this book. It is a very fast read.

Rating:
Summary: Helps if you know English history... And if you're a woman.
Review: This book is a quick read, and by the looks of the ad campaign now going on, people are likely to expect big things from it. Unfortunately, this book has limited crossover appeal because it seems to have been written for people who have knowledge of the history of England and London's streets in the last 100 years. Many women will probablay like it, but readers who like faster pacing and something more than just another book aimed at women will be disappointed. All of the male characters in this book except two come off as ridiculous one-sided idiots. Of course this is a book for women. And of course this is going to appeal greatly to them and turn off a lot of men. P.S. -- I read that the author used to live in the US. I'd like to see what she can do with material based in her homeland for a change. Her last book about the Girl with a Pearl Earring had greater interest (shoot, it was a best seller), but my guess is this was because the world is still in the middle of Vermeer mania. Don't be fooled by her last book. This one is just OK. Borrow before you buy.

Rating:
Summary: What is "Falling Angels" trying to say?
Review: I couldn't wait for this book to arrive in the USA so I bought mine from Amazon.co.uk during the summer.

Scandal, death & ashes. The graveyard is a playground in post-Victorian England! Yes, pretty enticing stuff.

But first, picture this...

This is a book with more than 90 chapters. Some contain a single line of text. All chapters present each character's point of view, all told in the first person. Quickly you're halfway through the book.

Someone else once said (HBO's "Six Feet Under," in fact), death makes life important. Chevalier's wonderful third novel accomplishes, without a sledgehammer, to deliver the message that if we do what in our hearts seems right, then we can ignore the burdens of judgment from a society that demands to define what is right.

"Falling Angels" is one of the more strangely accomplished novels of the new season. Its sullen title fools you into thinking of a Merchant-Ivory film, deftly paced with the usual examinations of class distinction and what is considered "right and proper." While this theme runs through "Falling Angels," Tracy Chevalier again demonstrates her skill at research and reinventing a familiar genre. If you didn't know, for example, how we buried our dead 100 years ago, you will here.

Chevalier is an atmospheric author. She isn't into mindless murder, action, explosions or venues set in courtrooms . She's more interested in implosions between people. So if you're into novels of such ilk, this isn't for you. Chevalier's last novel, the wildly popular "Girl with A Pearl Earring," was loaded with atmospheric poetry, calm romance and explorations of art and religion in a narrative tempo akin to the pace of 17th century Holland.

But in "Falling Angels," Chevalier dismisses the narrative style she used in "Earring" -- choosing to weave her meticulous research of graveyards, class distinction and the early 20th century suffragette movement in the United Kingdom -- into a tale of scandal, romance, death and betrayal. Her settings include a graveyard, homes of different classes, and a destructive event in central London that hurls the reader toward a bittersweet conclusion. That it all occurs in the aftermath of the death of Queen Victoria, who was an icon of an era steeped in moral values, magnifies the forbidden by ten-fold.

We follow two girls, Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse, from 1901 to 1910, as they age from 5 to 14. But "Falling Angels" forces you to make observations of the adult world around them and how they are affected by events beyond their control. Naturally as they age, they grow more confident. And as they age, we see that while appearances mean everything to the world, only personal thoughts and hidden actions represent real truth.

Despite its familiar theme, "Falling Angels" is a book about doing what is right and morally correct versus doing what truly makes one happy. The narrative moves forward, always in the first person, from the mouth of each major protagonist who commits his or her own brand of "against the grain" behavior and/or scandal.

"Falling Angels" seems to suggest that moral structure are inventions of man, the things that keep us in order. And simply put, such inventions are not natural. The better "angels" of our nature strive to do what is deemed correct, because this is the way we are "brought up." Yet the psychological, physiological and genetic codes of humans are not abstract. They are in constant conflict with moral structure. If we fail to recognize this, we let society cast us as "failures," even if we aren't.

Chevalier doesn't preach, and the grisly details of the scandalous portions of her story take place mostly "off camera," vividly residing in the imaginations of the reader. I like this. But the true mastery of "Falling Angels" is the abrupt change of pace that occupies the last third of her novel, a portion which carries the momentum of a locomotive. A cast of thousands, mostly nameless, gather for a pivotal event that proves devastating. Chevalier delivers a big "set piece" filled with thousands of activities going on at once -- and the surprise is -- even though they're told from different points of view, the reader is never confused.

This is where Chevalier has revealed a new dimension in her story-telling skills, using the narrative device of offering different points of view to best effect, moving forward with only minor cross references backward, avoiding going over old territory except to refresh the reader's memory. This last third sets the reader up for Chevalier's "home run."

Without giving it away, "Falling Angels" provides a conclusion whereby sadness and joy can co-exist. However, Chevalier seems to suggest that what's deemed "right and wrong" by society can shackle us beyond death. Sometimes, our true desires, even beyond our earthly lives, cannot be achieved except under the cloak of darkness.

So if it seems that most of the "angels" in "Falling Angels" fall, in fact, they all have the opportunity to rise. And wonderfully, there is redemption better left unsaid that concludes Chevalier's story that emotionally lifts the reader, without succumbing to the maudlin "Hollywood ending." Will this redemption require help from "scandalous" friends and/or "upstanding" individuals? And if so, what of it?

One comes away from "Falling Angels" feeling that "falling" in the eyes of society is just a state of mind, especially if we're the targets of harsh judgments. We have more control of our self-worth than we think.

We should all be glad we don't live in 1910. But truly, is today any different?

Rating:
Summary: Falling Angels falls flat
Review: After reading the first 100 pages of this book, my initial impression is that the narrative is disjointed, jumping from character to character, sometimes within the space of a page or two. While I can appreciate the fact that writing a novel using multiple points of view is difficult to pull off successfully, I know it's been done and done beautifully. One example that comes to mind immediately is Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible. In that book Kingsolver stays with each of her narrators long enough to establish a distinct voice for each one; you always know whose head you are in because the characters are so well developed.
In contrast, Chevalier's characters aren't developed enough to distinguish between them without being told who is speaking. Adding to this is the author's tendency to jump from narrator to narrator within the space of a few pages. We don't spend enough time with any one character to really get to know that character. I find myself turning back a page or two to remind myself of who is narrating at the moment.
In all fairness, these are just my initial impressions. I liked Chevalier's first novel, perhaps my feelings will change once I've finished this one.