Rating: 
Summary: An bit of an Academic Response
Review: The first drawback of anything Chevalier writes is that her writing skills are good. Not excellent, just satisfactory. What makes up for this ,however, is her methodical research and her ability to draw you into the world of Edwardian London. Other reviewers are saying "she discounts the suffrage movement" and "puts too much emphasis on the morbid", which are valid criticism, but I believe they are also a bit shallow, from my experience in this field of study (and I have lots of practical experience in this field of study), Chevalier immerses you in this world. The suffragettes are incredibly important to us now, but back in 1905, the criticisms of their political activity was harsh. Women were told "you can vote...when your work is done", and that they'd drop the issue as soon as they go bored with it. And its should be noted the Victorians were OBSESSED with protocol. Chevalier does a marvelous job immersing you in her subjective world...if you are looking for an objective account, I suggest you buy a history book instead. For those of you historiophiles who enjoy a well researched historical fiction, pick up this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Tedious Read
Review: After reading the author's Girl with the Pearl Earring, I was happy to see this book in the store. However, I turned out not to care for it.
The author changes points of view with each chapter. Some authors are masters at this technique, such as George R. R. Martin. But in this book, nearly all of the POV characters speak with the same voice, with little individuality. This makes the book somewhat less interesting than it could have been, if each character was given a unique voice.
In addition, most of the characters are nonlikeable and tedious. One is a housewife jealous of her prettier neighbor. One is a housewife bored with her life, who ignores her child. One is a husband stupid anough to cheat on his marriage, thinking that it will make his wife physically want him...I could on, but will not.
In addition, the changes in society are shown largely through the changes in mourning customs. This makes a large portion of the book about a graveyard and the mourning that goes on around it. This gets to be on the depressing side after some time...
Rating: 
Summary: Lvoed It
Review: Having visited Highgate many time, I loved this book more than Pearl Earring. She has an amazing gift to weave intricate characters with historical details in captivating stories.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book!
Review: Two young girls, Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse, become neighbors and best friends. While visiting the cemetery in which they both had family graves, Maude and Lavinia become friend's with Simon, the gravedigger's son, a young man who is much more wordly than they. Maude's mother, Kitty, is unhappy in her marriage and beseiged by her very demanding mother-in-law. She seeks fulfillment in a second relationship and by becoming very active in the woman's suffrage movement.
This novel was much more than a story. It clearly brought out a place and time with its setting in England in the early 20th century between the funerals of Queen Victoria and King Edward. Each of its characters was well drawn--very distinctive in voice, complete with petty jealousies, quirks of personality, feelings of love and comradeship, and true to social class. I especially liked Simon, the gravedigger's son, and always looked forward to the chapters in which his friends, Maude and Lavinia, visited the cemetery in which he worked.
One especially interesting aspect of this book was how much of the action took place around a cemetery. Customs of death and mourning were explained, and the day-to-day action of working in a cemetery was revealed. Another theme that was very educational was that of the women's suffrage movement. Though I've always taken women's suffrage for granted, this novel helped me realize how hard it must have been for women at that time to bring about such a radical change to society.
Rating:
Summary: A Change from the Normal
Review: When I picked up this book, I expected it to be much like Girl with a Pearl Earring, but in fact is was quite different. Not only are there far more characters that are being trusted but also the children in this story take a much bigger role. I can't say I was disappointed but I surely was surprised. While I didn't like it nearly as much as Girl with a Pearl Earring I felt that the same things happened while reading this book.
1. I was transported to this time with these people.
2. I was engaged by the characters and their actions; There were things I was wishing would happen, but I was disappointed with the outcome.
3. I found the style, character development, and plot easy to understand and the twists and turns not obvious.
Great book, I highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Drummer
Review: As far as FALLING ANGELS goes, I obviously am very much at odds with the majority of this website's reader-reviewers: I hated this book! I thought that it was a cheat, on many levels.First of all, it was short. It only took me about an hour to read. For the most part, it was a book about the stylized and self-conscious Victorian ritual of mourning among the upper class English; and the better part of the book was nothing more than a detailed report on cemetery and crypt design, on mourning clothes and mourning jewelry and mourning stationery and mourning time schedules. Author Tracy Chevalier uses the term "mute" in the context of mourners with no further explanation. Were mutes, then, paid mourners who filled out a funeral, and kept silent during the service? Her greatest insult, however, was to the women's suffrage movement. According to her telling, the suffragettes were little more than a group of bored women, slightly hysterical, who viewed their political goals as a silly game. I have read many books on the women's suffrage movement and I never have come across this interpretation anywhere else. She has slandered a movement that moved the cause of women into the 20th century. I didn't care for Chevalier's earlier fiction, GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE--I didn't even like the movie it was made into, which bombed at the box office. I far preferred the competing novel, GIRL WITH PEARL EARRING, which was published at that same time as BLUE. I will not be reading Chevalier's future work.
|
