Rating: 
Summary: This is no "Pearl Earring"
Review: Having read Girl With a Pearl Earring and recommended it to several friends, I could hardly wait to dig into Ms. Chevalier's second effort. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect another masterpiece, but I had at least hoped for something better than the uninspiring Falling Angels. Though Ms. Chevalier does a yeoman's job of conjuring early 20th-century England, the story barely held my interest. The most glaring shortcoming is that by constantly changing the point of view among her characters, Ms. Chevalier never gives the reader a chance to know any of them. Wait, is this Maude speaking or Lavinia, Kitty or what's-her-name? The friendship between young girls of different socioeconomic backgrounds is plausible enough, but there is simply no depth or passion in their encounters that would explain what drew them and held them together all those years. They may have fancied themselves "best friends in the world," but their avowals seemed mere words masquerading as a true relationship. Throwing in a poverty-stricken young gravedigger as a foil for girls of privilege seemed contrived--it's highly unlikely that this threesome would have formed an alliance of the sort described or that it would have been allowed to continue. The story begins with coy references to spouse-swapping. One would think that this revelation might evoke some emotion in the speaker--revulsion, delight, anger, excitement, shame, pleasure? Perhaps it's detachment, yet it doesn't feel like that; the scene and the speaker are simply devoid of any identifable feeling. Apparently, even the author didn't know what to do with this plot device, because it falls by the wayside quickly. Kitty Coleman's ultimately tragic dissatisfaction is too tidily summed up: she is disappointed in her husband for not being the man she believed he could be. Since we barely hear from the unfortunate man, it's hard to be sympathetic to Kitty's plight. Had there been a balanced view of the marriage, and perhaps some development of the husband's character, it might have explained her loathing for him. As it is, he wafted through the story like a ghostly nonentity. And let's just say that a certain plot development (an affair between two of the characters) moved the story from point A to point B without once giving me a sense that it was worth ruining their lives over. Using actual historical figures and events as a backdrop in fiction is an effective and entertaining device, but at least in one instance it seemed forced. Kitty Coleman's conversion to the suffragette movement comes with no foreshadowing, no hint of the zeal she will bring to the cause. Blissfuly ignorant of women's lack of political power one moment, she leaps to embrace the cause with wild enthusiasm in the turn of a page. Because she is a cipher whose depth (if there is any) is not plumbed by the author, it is difficult to understand her motivation. Had the author given us some insight into Kitty's--or even her husband's--mind and soul, the outcome of the story would have been more believable. (See Irene and Soames in The Forsyte saga for an example of how it's done!) But her reaction is not to be gleaned from the writer's exposition of the character, only from one's own experience of frustration.
If I had to sum up this novel in one word, it would be "passionless." Chevalier would have done well to give us a little less fashion-of-the-day and a little more cri de coeur.
Rating: 
Summary: I was hooked right away!
Review: From the very first line, this book sparked my interest! At first, I couldn't quite get into the way the book shifted from one character's point of view to another, but as the book started getting into more juicy details, I really began to enjoy the writing style. I couldn't put this book down, and I read it very quickly! The only problem I think I had with this book was that, when I really wanted Ms. Chevalier to elaborate on something or give a specific person's point of view, she didn't. If possible, I would have given this book 4.5 stars, just for that reason, but I really enjoyed it so much, that I will let it have my 5! :o) Many women will be able to identify with the conflict between Kitty Coleman and Gertrude Waterhouse, which brings a lot of interest to the book. Kitty Coleman's mother-in-law (blah!) also brought a lot of excitement to the book, and helped it shift in various directions. The friendship, if you can call it that, between the two young girls, Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse, is much like the friendships many of us may have had when we were young, with lingering jealousy and apathy for one another, yet with a bond that runs deeper than others can see. While at times predictable, this book does have quite a few surprises, and I definitely recommend it to all! Don't let the bad reviews keep you from reading it!!!
Rating: 
Summary: unconvincing charaters, interesting story
Review: the story is interesting enough, however I found it hard to believe the "voices" of all the characters. For example, the five year old girls having such grown up words and thoughts. It seems slightly unconvincing.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST-READ book!!!!
Review: This book has touched part of my soul, that books rarely can touch. It has affected so much, that i couldn't part with it. Chevalier did a wonderful job in creating the characters. And the events were so vivid. I can say that i have lived the Victorian age. The plot, the characters, the events are so real life like. I have cried at the end. All i can say is that i recommend this book to everybody...
Rating: 
Summary: Falling Angels
Review: Falling Angels is about life at the beginning of the twentieth century. The lives of 2 middle class families are brought together by their two daughters and a gravediggers son who met in the cemetery and made friends with a 'naughty boy',the gravediggers son and all are frequently drawn to the cemetery for a variety of reasons. The novel is intriguingly written as each character writes what they Are thinking. The novel touches on ? wife swapping, paedophilia, adultery and more without mentioning these words but leaving it to the imagination. Tie all this up with the suffragette movement and it makes a compelling read. I wish each of these things had been pursued further but maybe the novel was all the better for that not being so. When I finished the book I realised a beautiful love story of forbidden love had been told.
Rating:
Summary: Fallen Angels
Review: I picked up this book after reading "Girl with a Pearl Earring" (one of my favorite books--truly wonderful!). I also enjoyed Fallen Angels, but it seemed almost not finished...i wish there was a sequel! I kept on wondering if anything would happend between Simon and Maude later (i realize there are strong class barriers, but, nonetheless, since Maude is so forward thinking, who knows what could have happened?)...and four years down the road from the end of the novel WW1 would begin...it just makes me wonder how this would affect the characters.
Rating:
Summary: captivating
Review: This book is of a totally different style to "Girl with a Pearl Earring" but is just as enticing! Tracy Chevalier has again managed to capture a period in time and tells a remarkable story through the voices of the different characters. Each chapter is devoted to a separate person and the story unfolds through the eyes of the working class, the middleclass and the new emerging women's movement of the time. The setting is around the local cemetry in England just after Queen Victoria's death. How times have changed! It's hard to imagine people truly lived and felt like this.Well worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: What staring at concrete angels will bring you to...
Review: ...is stories like the one in this book. I can imagine Chevalier sitting on a stone bench in the sun, staring at a concrete angel as the characters in this tale begin to form in her mind. It is a morose yarn, full of frustration and irony. Somber moods creep up on the reader. The variety of viewpoints left me with the feeling that there was more to be said by several characters and yet I was left with questions about others -- Mr. Coleman, in particular. Its strong points are in the imaginative story and vivid prose. Tracy Chevalier is definitely a worthy talent whose star will certainly blaze across our literary skies as she continues to write. She has a real gift for capturing the zeitgeist of an age in her stories.
Rating:
Summary: 4 & a half stars...
Review: This was a very good book. I agree that it wasn't as good as girl with the pearl earring...but it is good in it's own respects. I felt the plot twists kept me turning the pages, wondering....
I felt the characters were likeable and that we got to know them.
Quick & fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Not As Good As The First Book..
Review: Having liked "Girl With The Pearl Earring" so much I was looking forward to Ms. Chevalier's latest book. My opinion; and yes, I was comparing it to the other book,clearly the better of two. I found the charactors in this book a bit flat and rather sterotypical as well as the monologue format tiresome after awhile. And the ending;I sensed some symbolism at work,but of what? Is it that hanging around graveyards is bad luck? Kitty was the most interesting charactor and I wished the entire book could've been focused on her;she's the only charactor that truly changed her life,while everyone else stayed essentially the same from the first chapter. I do think Chevaliers' one of the better writers out there so I will read her next book and hope it's better than this one.
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