I was delighted to find an Anne Tyler book on the mobile library as I love her work. Not this time. I found the central character quite irritating, a real shilly-shallier. I was surprised at my reaction as I am usually immediately involved and sympathetic to the people in her stories.
I had similar difficulties with the main character in Julian Barnes novel, 'The Sense of an Ending', narrated in the first person. Oh, I felt as though I knew this sort of man, supercilious grammar school boy who thinks he has been educated, sleepwalking through life. I wonder about the message, the conclusion that the author wants us to draw from the ending of this book. And once again the central character irritated me. Perhaps it's just the mood I'm in! It is a book that I would like to discuss with other readers.
I chose a large print book from the library. Years of detailed illustration work has resulted in poor eyesight so I really appreciate a large print book for reading in bed. This one was a period piece about skullduggery, set in Yorkshire which is why I chose it. By 'eck, can't be nowt wrong wi' that!
The book has everything in it that one expects from a period thriller - everything bar the kitchen sink in fact. Brave lady detective, faithful side kicks, a body and so forth. Enjoyable enough for a rainy day but the story is over manipulated.
I have sometimes come across a book that was well written and has a good enough story, but did not make me warm to the main character, leaving the whole reading experience rather flat.
ReplyDeleteThe Kate Shackleton mysteries have been recommended to me several times, but so far I have not gotten rounf to reading any of them.
I hadn't heard of the Kate Shackleton stories and read this one out of sequence. It was pleasant enough, but some of the characters were manipulated to fit the story and that made it an unconvincing read.
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