This book is about Clara Carter and her debut in New York Society in the 19th century--a time when corruption at Tammany Hall was at its apex and when a well-to-do woman's best hope of a secure future was marriage to a man of means, no love required.
General rating: 3.75 out of 4; lightweight, entertaining with a good message
1. Was it plausible? Yes, I suppose so.
2. Was it thought provoking? Yes, in a mild way. Some themes the author touched: love, corruption, gossip, fame, God, family... and in particular, being loved and accepted for who you really are.
3. Was it engaging? Yes, it was.
4. Was it uplifting? Yes, it was.
Language: none
Sex: none
My recommendation: This book felt like it was aimed at young adults. The writing was a little stilted and the whole story, while entertaining and good, felt a little juvenile to me. The serious issues are glossed over, the difficulties are miraculously solved, the bad things looked at through a veil. I actually like books like that mostly, but I like it better when I don't notice that that's what's going on. (Contradictory of me, I know). But I think the sign of a good writer is when the reader gets lost in the story without noticing writing style or writing devices. If the aim of a book is to tell a story--and in fiction I believe it is--then the "perfect" story experience is what I want to have, without distractions (and a beautifully wordy author is just as likely to create these distractions with flowery prose as is an author with a more stilted voice). Siri Mitchell's style is just a little distracting because of it's obvious soft-pedaling. Mitchell is labeled as a Christian writer too, but she does not have the heavy hand that many Christian writers do. I appreciated that. Overall I really enjoyed the book and I like that I could confidently recommend it to anyone--there is nothing offensive here and there is a very sweet message in the book as well. AND I always like to support a good Christian writer. Thank you, Siri Mitchell!
No comments:
Post a Comment