Rating: 
Summary: A beautiful, evocative step forward
Review: I confess I read this before "Pearl Earring," but I was utterly taken. By switching voices -- from two very different young girls to their mothers to such side characters as a serving maid -- Chevalier creates a fully fleshed portrait out of few words, each voice has its distinct viewpoint and very believable vocabulary and tone. The story that these voices build is wonderful and tragic, a realistic tale of the early 20th century. One brief paragraph, in particular, took my breath away -- only two sentences, but no more were needed. Afterward, entranced, I picked up her first novel and although I enjoyed it, I found it clumsy and verbose in comparison. This is a much less conventional novel, but (I think) a superior one. Delicate, evocative -- like a gesture drawing of few lines but much feeling. clea simon - author of "Fatherless Women" and "Mad House"
Rating: 
Summary: Not "Pearl Earring" but Still Excellent
Review: The problem with writing a first novel that does as well as "Girl With a Pearl Earring" is that readers will expect the same quality of writing and plot the next time. Although Tracy Chevalier's "Falling Angels" is not equal to her last effort, it is nonetheless an absorbing story involving vivid characters and events. Chevalier does not shy away from major themes such social status, adultery, an rearing children, and, like her last novel, she weaves history almost effortlessly into the plot. Despite unnecessary shifting of point of view among the chracters, "Falling Angels" was still a great read. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I was so disappointed with this novel. I loved "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and felt this didn't even come close. While some of the historical detail was interesting, this story wasn't at all captivating. I even started to feel I should have paid less for this book since half the pages are blank and others are only a paragraph.
Rating: 
Summary: Angels Falling Asleep, More Like It
Review: After reading "Girl With A Pearl Earring", I was very fond of the writing style Ms. Chevalier utilized. The story was so distinct and vivid, as well as the character devolpmentation. However, this is not so with "Falling Angels." The characters were not well developed; instead they were carbon opposites of each other. Was the friendship between Livy and Maude realistic at all? No--they were so different, it seemed the only thing they had in common was age and fun at the cemetary. It is not fathomable that they would have been friends. The plot itself was frustratingly predictable as well; I only kept reading to make sure I was correct.What was the point of so many choppy points of view? Did she consider it to be a fancy literary device? I had to will my eyes to stay open! While Ms. Chevalier did demonstrate more of her impressive knowledge of period life, the overall story is dull, predictable, unrealistic, and choppy. Perhaps she was trying too hard to impress us as with her other novel.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I really had no idea what Falling Angels was even about when I started it ~ I only picked it up hoping I would enjoy it half as much as I did Chevalier's first novel, Girl With a Pearl Earring. Falling Angels not only met my expectations, it fully exceeded them. From page one (I didn't know Victorians did THAT!) I knew I was in for a rollercoaster ride of a book. Neighbors Kitty Coleman and the Gertrude Waterhouse are as different as night and day. Kitty is forward thinking and restless in her role as wife and mother. Gertrude is firmly, and happily, ensconced in the oppressive Victorian mores of the day. To their horror their young daughters, Maude and Lavinia, become the best of friends and the two families are forced to interact. Over the course of nearly a decade, starting with the death of Queen Victoria, we watch as the Colemans and the Waterhouses struggle with each other, themselves, and the changing times as England moves into the new century. Tracy Chevalier is an author I will seek out again and again ~ I can't wait to see where she takes us next.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't want to put it down!
Review: This book was hugely enjoyable. I raced through it, not wanting to stop reading for anything (like, say, food or sleep). The interweaving of the elaborate and stylized mourning rituals of the Victorians with the story line about the Suffragettes made for a riveting read. I also greatly appreciated the use of the different characters as narrators, each of whom had a unique and different point of view on the same events. This technique made the book really come alive in my mind.
Rating:
Summary: Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier
Review: An excellent read. This is the first time I have read Tracy Chevalier and now I am hooked! A window on Victorian values and life through the eyes of both children and adults. Each chapter written by a different character in the book. Don't be put off by the obsession with the Graveyard at the beginning of this novel! I would now like to read 'Girl with the Pearl Ear-ring' also by Tracy Chevalier.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing second effort
Review: I very much liked Girl with a Pearl Earring. The writing was restrained and displayed an authentic voice. But Falling Angels was a disappointment--I realised after about 60 pages that I had no real interest in the story or characters, all of whom came across like twentieth-century retreads of Edwardian stereotypes. So I skipped to the end to see what narrative point all of the build-up had been heading to--pretty predictable stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Long Term Author
Review: "Girl With A Pearl Earring", by Tracy Chevalier was a tremendously successful book that meant her second effort would have very high expectations waiting for it. Her second novel, "Falling Angels", is a very good work for a variety of reasons. The author did not take the easy and often traveled path of just repeating a formula that was a success for her. Ms. Chevalier could easily have picked a new piece of art and spun another well-conceived narrative. The number of books that could be written in this manner is nearly infinite. As a writer she had both the confidence in herself, and the respect for her readers to present an entirely different type of tale, and to utilize a very different format from her first work. This story is related by the characters themselves, the reader is not given a single point of view, rather is the beneficiary of the views of many on the same event. The experience is made more interesting as the reader hears from characters that range in age from their first decade, to their seventh or eighth. Author Julian Barnes also used this format with great skill in, "Talking It Over", and the sequel, "Love Etc." The characters were not as far ranging, however the stories were wonderful. "Falling Angels", begins with the death of both Queen Victoria, and the time period that adopted her name. It is here that the writer introduces us to two families, both with daughters, but from different stations in the English view of society. Much of what the reader experiences is the youthful view of the daughters, which is, combined with the thought of a young man, a gravedigger's son. And much of what we read of takes place in, around, or as the result of events in a cemetery. An odd locale perhaps, however it is not used a locale for evil, or other familiar themes that easily come to mind. Ms. Chevalier uses this space as a focal point for the development of the younger players in the work, as well as an area that should not, but does, bring out the lesser qualities of the adults. This is also the era of women marching and being imprisoned for their desire to vote. This is again used to show the divisiveness amongst otherwise friendly relations, and the tragedy to which extreme opinion can lead. Those expecting a variation on her first book may at first be disappointed. However for those who continue with the work I believe they will find the novel well conceived, well written, and finally will be pleased to know that this writer is not going to rest on her laurels and churn out repetitive work. The book may not be without flaws, however, happily this is a writer at the beginning of her career, a career that promises a great many wonderful books.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and absorbing
Review: I don't care what the critics are saying; don't listen. I have not read Ms. Chevalier's first novel, so I don't know how "Falling Angels" compares, but standing on it's own, it is a gorgeous little book. Writing with sparing artistry and eye for beauty, Ms. Chevalier draws her characters with such simple perfection that you never notice the characterization process until you realize suddenly that you know the cast better than you know your family. You never want the end to come, but when it does, it strikes exactly the right chord, poised between nostalgia and indifference, between the desire to preserve the past and the certain knowledge that the future spins on, regardless. A fast read, but this book is well worth your money.
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