I actually bought this book by accident - I downloaded the sample to my Kindle, and in the process of filing it away in one of my collections I clicked the 'Buy now' button by mistake. But luckily I found it an enjoyable read.
This is not at all my usual type of book, but the premise of a woman experiencing flashes of a previous life was intriguing. It is well written and easy to read, although the choice of first person present tense is an unusual one, which grated occasionally. It would have seemed more logical to use the more conventional past tense, dropping into the present tense for the flashes. But no matter.
The story develops quite slowly, and the single point of view means that there is a great deal of introspection and description of the most mundane details of Julia's life. This does mean, however, that we get to know her and her family, friends and life very intimately.
The plot is well developed, such that everything feels logically derived from what went before, and from the characters themselves. There is a nicely created sense of building tension during the weekend with Frank, when we guess something is going to happen, but when it does it is a total surprise.
The ending feels very slightly contrived - particularly Richard's response, which seemed a little too convenient. Nevertheless, the story is nicely rounded off. Four stars. [First written April 2011]
This is not at all my usual type of book, but the premise of a woman experiencing flashes of a previous life was intriguing. It is well written and easy to read, although the choice of first person present tense is an unusual one, which grated occasionally. It would have seemed more logical to use the more conventional past tense, dropping into the present tense for the flashes. But no matter.
The story develops quite slowly, and the single point of view means that there is a great deal of introspection and description of the most mundane details of Julia's life. This does mean, however, that we get to know her and her family, friends and life very intimately.
The plot is well developed, such that everything feels logically derived from what went before, and from the characters themselves. There is a nicely created sense of building tension during the weekend with Frank, when we guess something is going to happen, but when it does it is a total surprise.
The ending feels very slightly contrived - particularly Richard's response, which seemed a little too convenient. Nevertheless, the story is nicely rounded off. Four stars. [First written April 2011]
No comments:
Post a Comment