elliemcc11's review
2.0
I have to admit that I wasn't aware of this latest book by Monica Ali, until I came across it at the library. I have read Brick Lane so liked her as an author and quite liked the concept of this book so decided to give it a go.
The basic premise is that Princess Di doesn't get killed in the tunnel in Paris but actually decides, with the help of her Private Secretary, to escape and end up living in small town USA. Now if you are a fan of conspiracy theories you may well believe she isn't dead or else her death was more mysterious than simply being in a crash in a tunnel, so it could appeal to those of you with that interest. Despite being British, I'm not at all sentimental about Princess Di, nor about the royals generally, but I was intrigued as to how an author could change and manipulate history like this.
Of course there wouldn't be a story if things were all simple. So there needs to be a bit of a plot. Quite by chance a journalist who followed her in the past has happened to end up visiting the same small town and despite every effort to change her identity her eyes give her away. And so pursuit begins with, what I feel, a fairly implausible ending.
This book was an easy read, I read it over three nights. I think it will appeal to Princess Di fans (the idea she might have escaped) and to those who are merely intrigued. If you think this is a mystery or thriller then you are mistaken. It's not quite chick-lit but heading in that sort of direction.
The basic premise is that Princess Di doesn't get killed in the tunnel in Paris but actually decides, with the help of her Private Secretary, to escape and end up living in small town USA. Now if you are a fan of conspiracy theories you may well believe she isn't dead or else her death was more mysterious than simply being in a crash in a tunnel, so it could appeal to those of you with that interest. Despite being British, I'm not at all sentimental about Princess Di, nor about the royals generally, but I was intrigued as to how an author could change and manipulate history like this.
Of course there wouldn't be a story if things were all simple. So there needs to be a bit of a plot. Quite by chance a journalist who followed her in the past has happened to end up visiting the same small town and despite every effort to change her identity her eyes give her away. And so pursuit begins with, what I feel, a fairly implausible ending.
This book was an easy read, I read it over three nights. I think it will appeal to Princess Di fans (the idea she might have escaped) and to those who are merely intrigued. If you think this is a mystery or thriller then you are mistaken. It's not quite chick-lit but heading in that sort of direction.
melissakuzma's review
3.0
This was not as good as I was hoping it would be. Loved the premise (Princess Diana doesn't die in the car crash, but fakes her death and reinvents herself in America), but nothing really happens and I was left feeling disappointed in the end.
meglobello's review
3.0
I just wanted so much more from this book. I've been looking forward to reading it for a few months.
cook_memorial_public_library's review
3.0
Recommended by Andrea
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Suntold%20story%20ali__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Suntold%20story%20ali__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
lola425's review
3.0
Interesting concept. Not sure that I necessarily felt a "Diana" vibe about the main character, but I trusted Ali enough to accept the premise. A good beach read, just the thing for a breezy summer day. I would have likely ended it more darkly, but I felt that the conceit of the butler/assistant's letters worked well in telling the story.
thejoyofbooking's review
4.0
I had been looking forward to reading this book for a long time, and I finally got to sit down with it while traveling for work - between meetings and in the early morning hours (thanks, jet lag!) by the hotel pool. It's a great book for reading that way - while traveling or on vacation.
I was at first disappointed by the rather flat, stock-character aspect of most of "Lydia's" friends - like the yoga friend who *always* sits in full lotus, every time she sits down. (Seriously. Who does that?). But in the end, while their characters didn't develop at all, some of the others developed enough to make up for it.
Monica Ali uses a few different voices to tell the story - a third party narration of both Lydia and the paparazzi who is unwittingly about to stumble upon her story, and a first person diary-style narration by Lydia's trusted assistant, the person who helped her escape from her claustrophobic life. The pieces come together in a surprising climax, which ended with enough tidiness to keep me happy and enough left to the imagination to keep me from rolling my eyes.
This would be a lovely book club discussion, not just for the story but for what it says about how we view celebrity, what it would take to abandon one's life, and the importance of trust, friendship, and self-reliance.
I was at first disappointed by the rather flat, stock-character aspect of most of "Lydia's" friends - like the yoga friend who *always* sits in full lotus, every time she sits down. (Seriously. Who does that?). But in the end, while their characters didn't develop at all, some of the others developed enough to make up for it.
Monica Ali uses a few different voices to tell the story - a third party narration of both Lydia and the paparazzi who is unwittingly about to stumble upon her story, and a first person diary-style narration by Lydia's trusted assistant, the person who helped her escape from her claustrophobic life. The pieces come together in a surprising climax, which ended with enough tidiness to keep me happy and enough left to the imagination to keep me from rolling my eyes.
This would be a lovely book club discussion, not just for the story but for what it says about how we view celebrity, what it would take to abandon one's life, and the importance of trust, friendship, and self-reliance.
lucy_12's review
4.0
I'm surprised that this book has such a low average rating because I really quite enjoyed it. Perhaps it was good audiobook narration that made it compelling or perhaps my guilty pleasure of following the outfits and hairdos of Kate Middleton made it a little more poignant for me, who knows? I really must read her acclaimed Brick Lane one of these days and see if I still feel the same way about this one afterwards.
oanh_1's review
3.0
Not particularly intrigued by Diana's story, whether fairytale or nightmare, I picked this u on the basis of it being for sale and written by Monica Ali. And I was not disappointed. She writes the concerns of displaced women well and this is also an enjoyable thriller.