Zelda's Cut

Rating:
Summary: Could Have Been Better
Review: I kept wanting this book to improve upon itself. It has an interesting premise and a very catchy ending, but there are too many problems in the writing for me to give it a strong recommendation. The author is trying to make parallels between the life of her protagonist, Isabel Latimer, and Isabel's writing (she specializes in high-toned fiction about moral choices). Now, of course, Isabel has a moral choice to make. What will she do?

Unfortunately, she drags out the story and the point of view from which the story is told isn't consistant. The writing ranges from very good to downright trashy. When the story goes into somewhat deviant sex scenes it just gets silly. There are also holes in the story that a truck could be driven through (a man puts on woman's clothes and makeup in ten minutes, and fools an entire television studio. Yeah, right).

It was interesting enough to keep me reading, but was a lost opportunity for what could have been a boffo story.

Rating:
Summary: A novel with an intriguing plot and a spilt personality
Review: The author of a large body of truly outstanding historical fiction, Philippa Gregory has also written several novels which are set in the modern day. The tone of these books vary a great deal. On one end of the spectrum, there are her cheery feminist fairy tales, Mrs. Hartley and the Growth Centre and Perfectly Correct - on the other, the dark domestic realism of her novel The Little House. Sitting rather uneasily between these two extremes sits Gregory's new novel, Zelda's Cut. Zelda's Cut starts promisingly, with an examination of the strains and stresses put on a loving marriage by the ravages of illness. Isobel Latimer deeply loves her ailing husband, Philip. But the pain he suffers daily has changed him so completely - from the light-footed, light-hearted man that she knew and loved and married into a man who is bitter, reproachful, and sad - that some days she finds it hard not to give into despair. This section of the novel is truly heart-breaking - a realistic, no-holds-barred look at the toll that chronic illness takes on both the patient, and the loved ones who care for them. And then - the mood changes; turns surreal. Within a few chapters, a slow, sad realistic story about the pressures put on people when one of their loved ones is in pain and facing the possibility of death turns into a tale of risk, deception, cross-dressing, literary impersonation, and sudden switches of identity. Zelda's Cut is, like all of Gregory's books, a real page-turner - filled with interesting characters, intriguing situations, and a (at least for me!) truly surprising ending. But unlike the finest of her previous works - the quiet, philosophical Earthly Joys, and the demented, impassioned Wideacre, Zelda's Cut cannot seem to decide what kind of book it wants to be. Is it a serious examination of what a marriage is like after love and hope are gone, or is it a more light-hearted piece about the redeeming virtues of adultery and a new hairstyle? Even after having read this interesting but uneven book, I'm not entirely sure.

Rating:
Summary: As bland as Zelda's novels
Review: There isn't much to this novel. I found myself skipping pages just so the story would advance. The plot was predictable from the first few chapters. I was hoping the story would take a turn for the better, perhaps turning into an Ethan Frome type novel, only to be disappointed. Not worth the time or effort.