I started this book with some trepidation, as long historic novels are not really my thing. I was prepared to give it a go because many people have spoken highly of it. I read it for quite a while - 4 weeks perhaps - but only managed to get through about one third of the way through. Although the quality of the writing was very good - the author’s way with words is quite exceptional - I really could not go on. Life is rather too short. I identified a number of issues:
All in all this was a shame, as it is quite an interesting period of history, but this book did not usefully contribute to my knowledge of it.
- this far through the book and nothing much has happened yet
- there are lots of unfamiliar words, most of which are not useful additions to my vocabulary [except possibly for Scrabble]; I was thankful for my Kindle’s easy access to a dictionary
- everything is written in the present tense, which I appreciate is not a unique style; I just wonder why
- I was often uncertain of whose actions were being described
- I did not feel I had a good picture of most of the characters, which added to my confusion when I forgot who the text was talking about at a particular point
All in all this was a shame, as it is quite an interesting period of history, but this book did not usefully contribute to my knowledge of it.
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