dale_ale's review
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
I did not find this book to be well written. There was little work done to attach you to the characters or their causes. The individual scenes and dialogue was very forced and the mingling of the real life events vs the diary entries was also awkward.
acton's review
3.0
This story is set in the late 1970's and is the story of how Cassie Lyman, a graduate student, navigates a critical time in her life. She is developing a research subject for her doctoral thesis in women's history, when she comes across a fascinating amount of information at Smith College about Kate Easton, a woman who founded the Birth Control League of Massachusetts in 1916. Cassie also discovers that she is actually related to Kate Easton.
At this point, Cassie has been living in Minnesota, but she has returned to her childhood stomping grounds for the wedding of her sister. So, in the foreground of this story is Cassie's current family drama surrounding the wedding and-- other later developments. Meanwhile, Cassie is obsessed with reading Kate Easton's journal entries and letters. As time goes on, Cassie finds parallels between her life and her great grand aunt's, and is thankful for and awed by the work and strength exhibited by her predecessor.
I enjoyed the historical background of this story-- Kate Easton's writing was the best part of this historical novel. She seemed real. Unfortunately, Cassie did not come off the page for me, and I thought that she seemed too young. For example, the petulance she feels towards her mother's bossiness before and during a family wedding was surprisingly immature. Then, she is absent during most of her sister's wedding reception because she can't resist going up to her room to read Kate's letters. This seemed both rude and childishly self-absorbed. Also, the way she avoids her husband during the event, which he has had to fit around his schedule, seems unfair.
One part of Cassie's life that is never developed is how she came to be married to Martin, in the first place. Their marriage is an important part of Cassie's life, and so should have been drawn with more detail.
In contrast to the dearth of background on Cassie's marital situation, there is a lot of dialogue, much of which I found awkward and sometimes unlikely.
In the end, I thought her life came together easily, with her problems solved in predictable ways. This is a light, pleasant read, but not overly compelling. The history about Massachusett's Birth Control League was intriguing.
Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this opportunity.
At this point, Cassie has been living in Minnesota, but she has returned to her childhood stomping grounds for the wedding of her sister. So, in the foreground of this story is Cassie's current family drama surrounding the wedding and-- other later developments. Meanwhile, Cassie is obsessed with reading Kate Easton's journal entries and letters. As time goes on, Cassie finds parallels between her life and her great grand aunt's, and is thankful for and awed by the work and strength exhibited by her predecessor.
I enjoyed the historical background of this story-- Kate Easton's writing was the best part of this historical novel. She seemed real. Unfortunately, Cassie did not come off the page for me, and I thought that she seemed too young. For example, the petulance she feels towards her mother's bossiness before and during a family wedding was surprisingly immature. Then, she is absent during most of her sister's wedding reception because she can't resist going up to her room to read Kate's letters. This seemed both rude and childishly self-absorbed. Also, the way she avoids her husband during the event, which he has had to fit around his schedule, seems unfair.
One part of Cassie's life that is never developed is how she came to be married to Martin, in the first place. Their marriage is an important part of Cassie's life, and so should have been drawn with more detail.
In contrast to the dearth of background on Cassie's marital situation, there is a lot of dialogue, much of which I found awkward and sometimes unlikely.
In the end, I thought her life came together easily, with her problems solved in predictable ways. This is a light, pleasant read, but not overly compelling. The history about Massachusett's Birth Control League was intriguing.
Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this opportunity.
sierracook14's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
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? No
3.0
parkerwkelly1's review
3.0
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book tells the story of a young woman, Cassie, in the late 70s exploring the decision of whether or not to start a family as she finishes her dissertation on Women's History, focusing on diary entries from one of her ancestors to guide her focus. The events in her life mirror her ancestor's diary entries as she proceeds through the novel, giving her guidance as she has to make tough decisions regarding her future.
The novel wasn't bad, but felt like a good short story dragged out to be a full length novel. There honestly is not a whole lot going on over the course of this novel and a large portion of it felt like filler for the author to get to novel length. The book did not feel super cohesive, but the inclusion of the historical viewpoints on events was a nice choice for helping the main character grow through the course of the novel.
I would give this a 2.5/5. Not a terrible read, but it did frequently feel unfocused and like it dragged out a fairly short story to get more content.
This book tells the story of a young woman, Cassie, in the late 70s exploring the decision of whether or not to start a family as she finishes her dissertation on Women's History, focusing on diary entries from one of her ancestors to guide her focus. The events in her life mirror her ancestor's diary entries as she proceeds through the novel, giving her guidance as she has to make tough decisions regarding her future.
The novel wasn't bad, but felt like a good short story dragged out to be a full length novel. There honestly is not a whole lot going on over the course of this novel and a large portion of it felt like filler for the author to get to novel length. The book did not feel super cohesive, but the inclusion of the historical viewpoints on events was a nice choice for helping the main character grow through the course of the novel.
I would give this a 2.5/5. Not a terrible read, but it did frequently feel unfocused and like it dragged out a fairly short story to get more content.
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