*This review does contain spoilers*
This is a good book, but I
do have mixed feelings about it. I loved the setting in rural France. I
loved the Catherine character and I am always excited for any woman who
is brave enough to start a whole new chapter of her life in another
country.
Descriptions of places, actions and things certainly makes a story come alive, but in this book the author goes way overboard with it for my liking. The endless descriptions in detail made this book very tedious for me to get through. Most of the book to me is describing things, places and actions. Unless you love that type of writing style it can be challenging. I don't much care for it and that is mostly why I gave this book only 3 stars. The endless descriptions was bordering on boring for me Strangely enough there was very little descriptions of how the characters looked. I wondered all through this story what Catherine looked like.
I suspected that Patrick was in love with Catherine all along; even after Bryony came to visit and he slept with her the evening she had dinner with him alone while Catherine had business to tend to. I wondered why he did it. Why did he further entertain Bryony during her sabbatical? Why if he loved Catherine would he sleep with her sister? His explanation at the end I found to be so 21st century male. John Thornton in N&S would have been more respectful of the woman he loved. Well, at least Patrick did admit to being no saint. I was disappointed in Catherine's reaction when she figured out that Bryony and Patrick slept together the night before. She was way too passive about it. Her sister intruded on her budding relationship with Patrick and that is just not acceptable behavior. I am sure that Bryony knew from the start that Patrick cared very much for Catherine.
The premise of this story is a good one, but for me the telling of it was done in a tediously drawn out way. I have read many love stories before that were just as long, but I was kept a lot more engaged and interested as I kept reading. By the middle of this book I was looking forward to finishing it. I was thrilled that Patrick finally told Catherine how much he cares for her and that it was always "Cat-rine". Their overall relationship is not quite the romance-love story that I thought it was going to be.
Descriptions of places, actions and things certainly makes a story come alive, but in this book the author goes way overboard with it for my liking. The endless descriptions in detail made this book very tedious for me to get through. Most of the book to me is describing things, places and actions. Unless you love that type of writing style it can be challenging. I don't much care for it and that is mostly why I gave this book only 3 stars. The endless descriptions was bordering on boring for me Strangely enough there was very little descriptions of how the characters looked. I wondered all through this story what Catherine looked like.
I suspected that Patrick was in love with Catherine all along; even after Bryony came to visit and he slept with her the evening she had dinner with him alone while Catherine had business to tend to. I wondered why he did it. Why did he further entertain Bryony during her sabbatical? Why if he loved Catherine would he sleep with her sister? His explanation at the end I found to be so 21st century male. John Thornton in N&S would have been more respectful of the woman he loved. Well, at least Patrick did admit to being no saint. I was disappointed in Catherine's reaction when she figured out that Bryony and Patrick slept together the night before. She was way too passive about it. Her sister intruded on her budding relationship with Patrick and that is just not acceptable behavior. I am sure that Bryony knew from the start that Patrick cared very much for Catherine.
The premise of this story is a good one, but for me the telling of it was done in a tediously drawn out way. I have read many love stories before that were just as long, but I was kept a lot more engaged and interested as I kept reading. By the middle of this book I was looking forward to finishing it. I was thrilled that Patrick finally told Catherine how much he cares for her and that it was always "Cat-rine". Their overall relationship is not quite the romance-love story that I thought it was going to be.
There are many avid readers who loved this book so please do not let my review of it stop you from reading it. It is a good story. I simply wish that it was not so wordy in descriptions.
3 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment