crissyh's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
2.75
monty27's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this story, but unfortunately it only started until the very end.
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
5.0
When Julia Fawkes, radical writer, dies after childbirth, her adult daughter Lizzie is left bereft. Newly married to a widower, Diner, Lizzie has to support her husband and raise her half-brother with only the help of her servant Philo. She comes into contact with a young poet but her suspicious husband thinks that more is going on than a mere friendship. Meanwhile Diner's business is collapsing, he has invested in the building of a row of houses in Bristol but the French Revolution means that no-one is interested in buying.
This is such a subtlety written book that both the minutiae of everyday Georgian life seems so much more important than the cataclysmic events across the channel and yet the ramifications are felt deeply. At one level the story is that of a young woman who discovers secrets about her husband that lead her into danger. At another level the radical followers of Thomas Paine are powerless to support their French friends as chaos reigns. The only jarring note for me was the modern day introduction. Whilst I know it was there to set the scene and introduce the reader to Julia Fawkes as a writer it was never revisited and felt superfluous.
This is such a subtlety written book that both the minutiae of everyday Georgian life seems so much more important than the cataclysmic events across the channel and yet the ramifications are felt deeply. At one level the story is that of a young woman who discovers secrets about her husband that lead her into danger. At another level the radical followers of Thomas Paine are powerless to support their French friends as chaos reigns. The only jarring note for me was the modern day introduction. Whilst I know it was there to set the scene and introduce the reader to Julia Fawkes as a writer it was never revisited and felt superfluous.
bericheri's review against another edition
4.0
There's a sense of constant doom throughout this novel however it's not exactly gripping. I almost gave up halfway through because hardly anything had happened. The plot didn't advance in anyway. But I stuck it out and found the ending to have been worth it. I won't be reading it again though.
sally_ann_t's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
chelseabarth's review against another edition
3.0
Set in 1792, Lizzie Fawkes has grown up among her mother's radical friends who support the French Revolution. But Lizzie is now married to a housing developer, John Diner Tredevant, who disagrees with the Revolution and believes that Lizzie's carefree spirit should be quelled. Diner see's Lizzie as his property and her independence as a threat, and his passion for her grows until Lizzie finds herself alone with a stranger who is not the man she married at all.
I was drawn to this book because of the time period in which it was set. However I found myself disappointed by this book. The story was well written and Helen Dunmore captured the tension of this era, however the story is set in Bristol where the characters are far removed from the political events taking place in France. The plot was sluggish and lacked any development throughout. The beginning of the story felt completely disconnected from the novel and I kept waiting to go back to that story but it was never mentioned again. So while the writing was elegant the plot was lacking too much for me to enjoy this story.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was drawn to this book because of the time period in which it was set. However I found myself disappointed by this book. The story was well written and Helen Dunmore captured the tension of this era, however the story is set in Bristol where the characters are far removed from the political events taking place in France. The plot was sluggish and lacked any development throughout. The beginning of the story felt completely disconnected from the novel and I kept waiting to go back to that story but it was never mentioned again. So while the writing was elegant the plot was lacking too much for me to enjoy this story.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
always_need_more_books's review against another edition
3.0
Set in 1792 Bristol, we follow Lizzie who is married to John Diner Tredevant a property developer. Lizzie was brought up in Radical circles where the French Revolution is followed with idealism. With the prospect of war, Diner looks to lose everything.
Described on the cover as a psychological thriller, I’m not sure that’s what it was. There is mystery and moments of thrill. I really enjoyed the historical aspects – I felt totally immersed in the period. There is childbirth and fantastic descriptions of Bristol and the social history of the time which I really enjoyed.
A book club read so it’ll be interesting to see what everyone else thinks when we discuss it.
Described on the cover as a psychological thriller, I’m not sure that’s what it was. There is mystery and moments of thrill. I really enjoyed the historical aspects – I felt totally immersed in the period. There is childbirth and fantastic descriptions of Bristol and the social history of the time which I really enjoyed.
A book club read so it’ll be interesting to see what everyone else thinks when we discuss it.
snoakes7001's review against another edition
5.0
Birdcage Walk begin in the present as a dog walker uncovers a gravestone with an enigmatic epitaph. The story then moves to the eighteenth century with a mysterious and clandestine burial. The next chapter jumps forwards another three years where we meet the main characters, Lizzie and her family. It's the time of the French Revolution and Lizzie's mother and stepfather are radicals, political pamphlet writers who are watching events over the channel with interest but at one remove. Lizzie herself recently married widower John Diner Tredevant, a property developer and speculator who has much to lose in the uncertainty of the times with the prospect of war on the horizon. As creditors start to circle, events take a darker turn and Lizzie begins to wonder what manner of man it is that she had married.
Helen Dunmore excels in taking an extraordinary period in history and spinning it into an everyday tale about ordinary folk. The French Revolution isn't the main event, but rather a backdrop to this story although its fallout dramatically affects the lives of Lizzie and her family.
It's lyrical and atmospheric with a slowly building sense of impending doom. The theme of lost voices, how even writers (and particularly women) can leave no trace of themselves after a few years have gone by is made particularly poignant by Helen Dunmore's early death.
Helen Dunmore excels in taking an extraordinary period in history and spinning it into an everyday tale about ordinary folk. The French Revolution isn't the main event, but rather a backdrop to this story although its fallout dramatically affects the lives of Lizzie and her family.
It's lyrical and atmospheric with a slowly building sense of impending doom. The theme of lost voices, how even writers (and particularly women) can leave no trace of themselves after a few years have gone by is made particularly poignant by Helen Dunmore's early death.
jac1nta's review against another edition
This book is very very boring. I only read 5 chapters as I am part of a book club and felt that I had to give a good stab at it. I really couldn't read any further. I wasn't enjoying it. It was like a history lesson and I hated history in school. I am not interested in violence against women, the French Revolution or property developers in Bristol and how the revolution may or may not have affected the business of the husband. If I wanted to know any of this I would get a factual history book!
I read books to escape and be entertained and to put a smile on my face and produce maybe tears of joy or sadness but unlltimately happiness. It wa a chore to read as far as I did!
I read books to escape and be entertained and to put a smile on my face and produce maybe tears of joy or sadness but unlltimately happiness. It wa a chore to read as far as I did!
fictionfan's review against another edition
3.0
The perils of the prologue...
As the French Revolution is turning into terror over in Paris, Lizzie Fawkes is in Clifton in the south of England, where her husband is building an avenue of houses on the cliffs above the gorge. Lizzie is the daughter of Julia Fawkes, a woman who has devoted her life to writing pamphlets promoting the rights of man and the emancipation of women. Lizzie's husband, Diner, is of a more traditional cast, wanting and expecting Lizzie to find fulfilment in the role of housewife. He is older than Lizzie and was married before to a Frenchwoman, Lucie. Lizzie loves Diner and wants to make him happy, but she feels increasingly restricted by his demands that she doesn't go out unaccompanied; and he seems jealous of everyone else she loves, especially her mother whom she adores. As Diner becomes ever more demanding, Lizzie begins to feel herself trapped...
I so wanted to love this book, especially since it turned out to be Helen Dunmore's last. In a rather moving afterword, she explains that, although while she was writing it she didn't know she was ill with the cancer that would kill her, she realised afterwards that the illness must already have been spreading through her. So it is poignant, though apparently coincidental, that one of the themes she wanted to examine in the book is that of how “the individual vanishes from the historical record”, especially women, whose lives were so often unrecorded and forgotten.
Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the book that prevent it from reaching the highest standards. Firstly, the idea of discussing the Terror in France via those wannabes who cheered the revolutionaries on from the safety of England means that there is never any sense of emotional involvement in the events going on over in Paris. This is further exacerbated by Dunmore telling us about those events through letters and newspaper articles rather than taking us there. Of course, this is how people in England would have received the news, so in that sense it's an accurate portrayal. But it makes those passages feel more like a history lesson than part of a story.
The second, and for me the major, problem is that Dunmore begins the book with a short series of prologue-like chapters which basically reveal almost everything that is to follow. So we know from the beginning that the building boom will collapse when war begins and the houses Diner is building will be a victim of that. We know that Julia is soon to die and her writings will be lost and forgotten, leaving no trace of her in the historical record. And we know that a man will bury the corpse of a woman in the woods – and although we are not told which man and which woman, it becomes blindingly obvious almost as soon as the story gets underway. Suspense may not be an essential feature of all books, but I suggest there ought always to be at least some doubt about how things will play out. Of course, we don't know exactly how it will end, but the bits that are left obscured are rather minor in comparison to those that are revealed too soon.
There is no doubt about the quality of the writing, and the development of major and minor characters alike is excellent. I struggled with the idea that Lizzie would have given up a life of relative freedom to marry a man with such strict, traditional views on the role of women, but we all do stupid things for love when we're young, I suppose. Dunmore's portrayal of the stay-at-home revolutionaries rings true, as does her detailed description of life in Clifton at this moment in history. But I fear that detail itself gradually became my third issue with the book. Everything is described in far too much depth, from haggling over the purchase of a shawl to what to feed a baby whose mother can't suckle it. Each bit is vaguely interesting in its own right, thoroughly researched and certainly well described, but it all builds up until I finally felt I was drowning in minutiae, with the story sinking alongside me. I'm not sure at what point creating an authentic background becomes information overload but, wherever the line is, for me this book crossed it. And I suspect that's mainly because the prologue chapters had left me in little doubt of where the story was going so that I had no strong feeling of anticipation to drive me on.
So the book's strengths lie in the quality of the writing and the authenticity of the setting and characterisation, and for these reasons it is still well worth reading. But sadly, the problems I had with it prevent me from giving it my wholehearted recommendation, much though I'd like to.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Grove Atlantic.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
As the French Revolution is turning into terror over in Paris, Lizzie Fawkes is in Clifton in the south of England, where her husband is building an avenue of houses on the cliffs above the gorge. Lizzie is the daughter of Julia Fawkes, a woman who has devoted her life to writing pamphlets promoting the rights of man and the emancipation of women. Lizzie's husband, Diner, is of a more traditional cast, wanting and expecting Lizzie to find fulfilment in the role of housewife. He is older than Lizzie and was married before to a Frenchwoman, Lucie. Lizzie loves Diner and wants to make him happy, but she feels increasingly restricted by his demands that she doesn't go out unaccompanied; and he seems jealous of everyone else she loves, especially her mother whom she adores. As Diner becomes ever more demanding, Lizzie begins to feel herself trapped...
I so wanted to love this book, especially since it turned out to be Helen Dunmore's last. In a rather moving afterword, she explains that, although while she was writing it she didn't know she was ill with the cancer that would kill her, she realised afterwards that the illness must already have been spreading through her. So it is poignant, though apparently coincidental, that one of the themes she wanted to examine in the book is that of how “the individual vanishes from the historical record”, especially women, whose lives were so often unrecorded and forgotten.
Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the book that prevent it from reaching the highest standards. Firstly, the idea of discussing the Terror in France via those wannabes who cheered the revolutionaries on from the safety of England means that there is never any sense of emotional involvement in the events going on over in Paris. This is further exacerbated by Dunmore telling us about those events through letters and newspaper articles rather than taking us there. Of course, this is how people in England would have received the news, so in that sense it's an accurate portrayal. But it makes those passages feel more like a history lesson than part of a story.
The second, and for me the major, problem is that Dunmore begins the book with a short series of prologue-like chapters which basically reveal almost everything that is to follow. So we know from the beginning that the building boom will collapse when war begins and the houses Diner is building will be a victim of that. We know that Julia is soon to die and her writings will be lost and forgotten, leaving no trace of her in the historical record. And we know that a man will bury the corpse of a woman in the woods – and although we are not told which man and which woman, it becomes blindingly obvious almost as soon as the story gets underway. Suspense may not be an essential feature of all books, but I suggest there ought always to be at least some doubt about how things will play out. Of course, we don't know exactly how it will end, but the bits that are left obscured are rather minor in comparison to those that are revealed too soon.
There is no doubt about the quality of the writing, and the development of major and minor characters alike is excellent. I struggled with the idea that Lizzie would have given up a life of relative freedom to marry a man with such strict, traditional views on the role of women, but we all do stupid things for love when we're young, I suppose. Dunmore's portrayal of the stay-at-home revolutionaries rings true, as does her detailed description of life in Clifton at this moment in history. But I fear that detail itself gradually became my third issue with the book. Everything is described in far too much depth, from haggling over the purchase of a shawl to what to feed a baby whose mother can't suckle it. Each bit is vaguely interesting in its own right, thoroughly researched and certainly well described, but it all builds up until I finally felt I was drowning in minutiae, with the story sinking alongside me. I'm not sure at what point creating an authentic background becomes information overload but, wherever the line is, for me this book crossed it. And I suspect that's mainly because the prologue chapters had left me in little doubt of where the story was going so that I had no strong feeling of anticipation to drive me on.
So the book's strengths lie in the quality of the writing and the authenticity of the setting and characterisation, and for these reasons it is still well worth reading. But sadly, the problems I had with it prevent me from giving it my wholehearted recommendation, much though I'd like to.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Grove Atlantic.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com