A House Divided

Rating:
Summary: Good..but get to the point already!!
Review: In the end, after all is said and done, I'll admit the characters were lively, and the plot very good. But I was exhausted by the time I finished reading this book! It took forEVER to get to the point of things, and there was a lot of repeated dialogue. Imagine pulling on a string, hoping to get to the end, and you find yourself tugging, and tugging, and tugging in frustration, but to no avail. That's how I felt when reading this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not her best
Review: World War II may be over, but for many of the soldiers the battle has just begun. Captain Matthew Wellingham struggles with being blind, having much of his skin destroyed, and a rage bordering on insanity. Only the gentle caring of Nurse Elizabeth Ducksworth pulls him through his period of lunacy.

After being discharged from the hospital, Matt meets Liz and knows he is in love with her. Liz goes home to end her engagement to a big bully who tries to rape her. Only her brother stops him from succeeding. Liz and Matt see each other and confess their love for one another. Though his parents and gran adore her, the path to happiness is wrought with troubles caused by other males demanding that Liz be theirs despite her own desire for Matt.

The concept of a nurse falling in love with her patient suffering from several combat related injuries including blindness seems very interesting on the surface. Additionally, the legendary Catherine Cookson affectionately and vividly describes 1946 England. However, much of the conflict in the plot of A HOUSE DIVIDED comes from external sources, making the story line appear contrived rather than free flowing. No internal conflict between the lead couple exists in this tale, leading to the belief that this could have been a classic, but ultimately falls a bit short.

Harriet Klausner