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furzy's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
elliemcc11's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book; didn't want it to end. I was so sucked into Mary & Frank's romance.
Set during the election campaign of Nixon / JFK we meet Mary, wife of Charlie, and Frank. Frank is a newspaper reporter and Mary and Charlie are part of the British diplomatic service based in Washington DC.
Mary and Frank meet at a party at Mary and Charlie's house. Charlie is inebriated, and is for most of the book. Mary, on a trip to NYC without Charlie, finds herself in contact with Frank and the rest, as they say, is history.
Interspersed with historical references, this is the account of an extramarital affair. It isn't especially graphic in detail; the affair is strongly suggested.
Some reviews suggest it's a slow story but for me it set a good pace and it was one of those books I kept wanting to read and wanting more of.
Set during the election campaign of Nixon / JFK we meet Mary, wife of Charlie, and Frank. Frank is a newspaper reporter and Mary and Charlie are part of the British diplomatic service based in Washington DC.
Mary and Frank meet at a party at Mary and Charlie's house. Charlie is inebriated, and is for most of the book. Mary, on a trip to NYC without Charlie, finds herself in contact with Frank and the rest, as they say, is history.
Interspersed with historical references, this is the account of an extramarital affair. It isn't especially graphic in detail; the affair is strongly suggested.
Some reviews suggest it's a slow story but for me it set a good pace and it was one of those books I kept wanting to read and wanting more of.
tinkik's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
robyn1998's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I enjoyed this, I think a lot of the political stuff went over my head. I found the characters easy to empathise with. I felt like there was a bit too much mention of how dark Mary's hair was, we get it!!
siria's review against another edition
3.0
On Green Dolphin Street began strongly, with all the sense of period and the kind of photographic impressionism which marks Faulks' writing at its best. He is very good at capturing a sense of the time and place in which the van der Lindens were living—Washington and New York and London in the heady days of Kennedy's race for the White House, a world of embassy parties and diplomatic intrigues and beat poets—as well as sketching out the kinds of people which they were. And yet as the novel progressed, I found it all rather... well, uninspired, I suppose, a little novel-by-numbers, which impression was not weakened by the ending. The last third of the book felt as if it tipped over more and more into a weak melodrama; some of the dialogue which he put into Mary's mouth, in particular, made me raise my eyebrows. Not Faulks' best.
hanarr's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
notrix's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
agnestyley's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Heartbreaking: an intoxicating depiction of an intensely passionate love affair that could never end well. Interesting backdrop of Nixon-Kennedy without it being the focus of the book. A tragic depiction of alcoholism and grief.
davereader's review against another edition
5.0
Evocative! If they make a movie of this book, and manage to convey the emotion of the last couple of chapters, it will blow "Casablanca" off the screen