mmgroberg's review
3.0
I found the premise and the plot of this book very interesting, but was totally bored and unconvinced by the narrator, both her character and her voice. I thought it was over-written in a way that didn't feel like the authentic first person voice of a 19-year-old girl. Because of this I feel like I never really got a good feel for the narrator/protagonist as a person. Also, as a matter of personal preference, I found the "epilogue" (I can't remember whether it's labeled as such, but that's how it functions) trite and unnecessary. Overall, harmless and fairly absorbing, but not my cup of tea.
bravelass85's review
4.0
I appreciate a well-written book, and this certainly is one. This is a good story about family dynamics, told from the vantage of time as a woman looks back on her 20th year when everything fell apart and she launched into what would become her adult life. I won’t say more than that because I think walking in blind on this book is the only way to go. Don’t read anything about the plot - not even the jacket - before reading it. It’s motifs of the theatre and what it is to act and the crumbling of the house are all powerful in this book and the characters are rich and messy. I couldn’t put it down.
robforteath's review
4.0
A very subtle and engaging story of a young woman whose home life is crumbling while she is simultaneously making a leap forward in her own development. It is told from her point of view, and with much precision. The prose is very "Times New Roman" in character, much like her upbringing. The normal circumstances of her young life -- her pointless job giving tours, the young man at work who has a crush on her -- are made irrelevant by the weight of her father's fall from grace and her desperate grasping at the one whiff of an opportunity that has presented itself.
Both story lines progress very rapidly; over the space of a few months everything is settled. We are led through it all expertly, with wonderful depictions of Beatrice's internal life. Everything feels real and unforced (apart from some forgivable coincidences that conveniently synchronise the two halves of the story), and the characters are excellent.
But then, oh dear... there is an extended, ham-handed, and completely unnecessary epilogue set 21 years later. If you stop reading when she leaves the Farm, you will be left with a better impression from the book than if you wade through to the end.
Both story lines progress very rapidly; over the space of a few months everything is settled. We are led through it all expertly, with wonderful depictions of Beatrice's internal life. Everything feels real and unforced (apart from some forgivable coincidences that conveniently synchronise the two halves of the story), and the characters are excellent.
But then, oh dear... there is an extended, ham-handed, and completely unnecessary epilogue set 21 years later. If you stop reading when she leaves the Farm, you will be left with a better impression from the book than if you wade through to the end.
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