Hi
This book, The Winter Ghosts, was recommended to me. It is the first book I have read by this author and I liked the direct style but I did find it rather descriptive. Detailed landscape descriptions don't really fascinate me but I did get the impression she was writing about a place she knew well, and I can imagine that some people would enjoy this. The character and history of Freddie Watson was thoroughly explored and developed. I felt that the theme of coming to terms with loss was delicately handled. Everyone deals with these sort of powerful emotions slightly differently and following Freddie as he learnt to accept and live with his loss seemed to me to be the main theme of this story. The ghost aspect was almost secondary to this main theme.
After reading this novel I might be tempted to give Labyrinth a try.
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Monday, 7 February 2011
Book Review, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Hi
A friend recommended this book to me. She said it was one of her favourite novels. It was first published in 1944 so has been around a long time. It is the story of a poor family in Brooklyn. The main character is Francie Nolan, who lives with her parents and brother in a tenement apartment. She loves reading and regularly visits the library and, weather permitting, sits outside on the fire escape to read. The story is a very detailed account of her life between the ages of about six to twenty. It is an excellent insight into life in those times. It takes you on a rollacoaster ride through a whole host of emotions as we watch Francie coping with her father's death, her secret hopes for her own future being reshaped, her knowledge that her mother favours her brother, her desperate attempts to complete her education while being forced to work to keep the family together and finally her first love. It is a long story but well worth a read. It is a reminder of what it really was like to be poor and not have enough money for food or heat at a time when there was no one to help out.
A friend recommended this book to me. She said it was one of her favourite novels. It was first published in 1944 so has been around a long time. It is the story of a poor family in Brooklyn. The main character is Francie Nolan, who lives with her parents and brother in a tenement apartment. She loves reading and regularly visits the library and, weather permitting, sits outside on the fire escape to read. The story is a very detailed account of her life between the ages of about six to twenty. It is an excellent insight into life in those times. It takes you on a rollacoaster ride through a whole host of emotions as we watch Francie coping with her father's death, her secret hopes for her own future being reshaped, her knowledge that her mother favours her brother, her desperate attempts to complete her education while being forced to work to keep the family together and finally her first love. It is a long story but well worth a read. It is a reminder of what it really was like to be poor and not have enough money for food or heat at a time when there was no one to help out.
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