This month was not a particularly good reading month for me. Things just all sort of ended up needing to be done this month and I only had time to finish two books. I will still go over them though, for you lovely folks.
Book #1: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father’s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise — she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels. Late one night while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter’s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer. As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. Both women will have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets... and the ghosts that haunt them still.
I did nearly give this book 5 stars, but it went too quickly to justify. I enjoyed the way she would wait until you became comfortable in the story, thought you had everything all worked out...and would then throw a great big spanner in the mix and everything you thought you knew would collapse around you. Some of the twists you could almost see coming, most of them not. It was a mystery at first. Why would Ms. Winter, who never told anybody the truth, pick a random bibliophile and amateur biographer to be the one to write her story? I couldn't figure it out at first. Then it was revealed. This might have been the closest a book has ever brought me to tears. Of course a lost twin would understand. Would be able to accurately tell the story of a woman who was on the verge of losing her own sister...only...not? The twist at the end is something to die for. I would never have seen it coming. I'm rather surprised at how quickly Margaret figured out the secret that Vida told her without actually telling her. Not even the fact, I think, that Charlie is Emmeline and Adeline's father. The girls looked nothing like their father and had all the features of their Uncle Charlie. I would definitely recommend this to friends if they ask me. It's very good and has a lot to make you think.
Book #2: This Too Shall Pass by Milena Busquets
Blanca is forty years old and motherless. Shaken by the unexpected death of the most important person in her life, she suddenly realizes that she has no idea what her future will look like. To ease her dizzying grief and confusion, Blanca turns to her dearest friends, her closest family, and a change of scenery. Leaving Barcelona behind, she returns to Cadaqués, on the coast, accompanied by her two sons, two ex-husbands, and two best friends, and makes a plan to meet her married lover for a few stolen moments as well. Surrounded by those she loves most, she spends the summer in an impossibly beautiful place, finding ways to reconnect and understand what it means to truly, happily live on her own terms, just as her mother would have wanted.
This book was definitely not what I thought it would be. Of course by now I don't really remember what I thought was going to happen anyway. It's very...stream of consciousness, and most of that conscious thought is being put toward sex. It's a very unhealthy attitude I think. It follows this woman who loses her mother. Blanca never really learned how to be an adult. Her father died when she was young, and her mother sounded like she was a bit flighty. Okay, a lot flighty. Not exactly the best mother material here, but to each their own. She came from an era where people were a lot more...free with their child rearing. Blanca falls into a spiraling depression when her mother passes, from some illness that isn't clarified at first but appears to have dementia as part of it. They never fully say what it was that took her mother from the world, as the book seems to be Blanca trying to deal with it and how she gets over it. I don't like the book. I tried. I really really did. How can anyone who treats people the way she did still have friends? I know if I were to treat my family and friends like that, I'd be out on the street faster than I can say my own full name. She is incredibly rude and sometimes just downright condescending to the people who care about her and want to help her. I may just be missing something in what appears to be middle-class Spanish culture. I don't know. It just didn't strike my fancy at all. I think the biggest problem I had with the book was her reaction to the loss of her mother. The title of the book makes one assume that it's the story of her letting go of her pain and moving on with her life. That she's going to come to terms with it and learn to live the way her mother would have if she had still been alive. No. Not even remotely close. In fact, Blanca tells the reader how long her mother has been gone at one point (34 days) and how she is never going to get over it. There was still no hope at page 145. She was still just obsessed with her mother's death and avoiding all of her mother's possessions. I rated this book a 2/5 stars, and I would have given it less if I hadn't been intrigued by what was going to happen. I received the book for free from Blogging for Books in return for an honest review. I'm just sorry I didn't actually like it
I did nearly give this book 5 stars, but it went too quickly to justify. I enjoyed the way she would wait until you became comfortable in the story, thought you had everything all worked out...and would then throw a great big spanner in the mix and everything you thought you knew would collapse around you. Some of the twists you could almost see coming, most of them not. It was a mystery at first. Why would Ms. Winter, who never told anybody the truth, pick a random bibliophile and amateur biographer to be the one to write her story? I couldn't figure it out at first. Then it was revealed. This might have been the closest a book has ever brought me to tears. Of course a lost twin would understand. Would be able to accurately tell the story of a woman who was on the verge of losing her own sister...only...not? The twist at the end is something to die for. I would never have seen it coming. I'm rather surprised at how quickly Margaret figured out the secret that Vida told her without actually telling her. Not even the fact, I think, that Charlie is Emmeline and Adeline's father. The girls looked nothing like their father and had all the features of their Uncle Charlie. I would definitely recommend this to friends if they ask me. It's very good and has a lot to make you think.
Book #2: This Too Shall Pass by Milena Busquets
This book was definitely not what I thought it would be. Of course by now I don't really remember what I thought was going to happen anyway. It's very...stream of consciousness, and most of that conscious thought is being put toward sex. It's a very unhealthy attitude I think. It follows this woman who loses her mother. Blanca never really learned how to be an adult. Her father died when she was young, and her mother sounded like she was a bit flighty. Okay, a lot flighty. Not exactly the best mother material here, but to each their own. She came from an era where people were a lot more...free with their child rearing. Blanca falls into a spiraling depression when her mother passes, from some illness that isn't clarified at first but appears to have dementia as part of it. They never fully say what it was that took her mother from the world, as the book seems to be Blanca trying to deal with it and how she gets over it. I don't like the book. I tried. I really really did. How can anyone who treats people the way she did still have friends? I know if I were to treat my family and friends like that, I'd be out on the street faster than I can say my own full name. She is incredibly rude and sometimes just downright condescending to the people who care about her and want to help her. I may just be missing something in what appears to be middle-class Spanish culture. I don't know. It just didn't strike my fancy at all. I think the biggest problem I had with the book was her reaction to the loss of her mother. The title of the book makes one assume that it's the story of her letting go of her pain and moving on with her life. That she's going to come to terms with it and learn to live the way her mother would have if she had still been alive. No. Not even remotely close. In fact, Blanca tells the reader how long her mother has been gone at one point (34 days) and how she is never going to get over it. There was still no hope at page 145. She was still just obsessed with her mother's death and avoiding all of her mother's possessions. I rated this book a 2/5 stars, and I would have given it less if I hadn't been intrigued by what was going to happen. I received the book for free from Blogging for Books in return for an honest review. I'm just sorry I didn't actually like it
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