trulybooked's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. There are some times when it dragged and I would put it down for the night and others where it seemed to fly by. Sometimes, the picture of the past world that she painted seemed contrived and cliche, other's I was drawn in to read it.
I was much more engaged with the modern story of Anna and the issues that it dealt with (however minorly) than that of the past, but Anna's story is much less prominently featured. Even that had it's problems though. I guess, if I could name a main problem, it would be with the dialogue which often felt wooden and stiff. That's something I can understand for her treatment of the past as it is an era where I am unused to the diction, but it also appears in the more modern story, with lines that made me cringe.
Also, I wonder how much it would hurt to have a coffee cup slammed into your face.
I was much more engaged with the modern story of Anna and the issues that it dealt with (however minorly) than that of the past, but Anna's story is much less prominently featured. Even that had it's problems though. I guess, if I could name a main problem, it would be with the dialogue which often felt wooden and stiff. That's something I can understand for her treatment of the past as it is an era where I am unused to the diction, but it also appears in the more modern story, with lines that made me cringe.
Also, I wonder how much it would hurt to have a coffee cup slammed into your face.
wyemu's review against another edition
4.0
Not strictly speaking the intertwining of two love stories over 150 years apart that the write up on the back offers, however, this is a story of love and the two main protagonists are separated by more than 150 years. Stephen Fairhurst is a veteran of Wellington's army while Anna Ware is a precocious fifteen year old spending her summer with the uncle and grandmother she's been foisted on by her absent mother. Darwin's talent lies in traversing these worlds with no more than a line break between them and her use of language, moving from the reserved language of Stephen's time to the modern and open language of Anna, is flawless. Even if the book description is misleading it is more then made up for by Darwin's writing.
simmerman's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a random pick at Borders. It's a bit lengthy, but I loved it! It was the first book that I picked up in a long time that I truly enjoyed reading. I love both story lines and how the stories of both time periods progressed. A relaxing and enjoyable read.
nocto's review against another edition
5.0
Fab. I'll have to go back over my list of books but this is a leading contender for my best read of 2007 (not that I ever get around to the award ceremony). As with many of the best reads it was a book I wasn't at all sure I'd like when I pulled it off the library shelf.
Historical story of a Waterloo veteran muddled up with a present day (well 1976, does that count as historical yet?) story of a teenage girl. The paired stories fought for my attention and at the joins between them I was torn between wanting to keep on reading the half of the tale I was in and needing to find out what was happening in the other half. Extremely well written, I look forward to more books from Darwin, this is her first.
Historical story of a Waterloo veteran muddled up with a present day (well 1976, does that count as historical yet?) story of a teenage girl. The paired stories fought for my attention and at the joins between them I was torn between wanting to keep on reading the half of the tale I was in and needing to find out what was happening in the other half. Extremely well written, I look forward to more books from Darwin, this is her first.
estefyhern's review
tense
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse
borborygmus's review against another edition
4.0
Yes, quite good. Skillfully interwoven tales 150 years apart with subtle symmetries and very likeable characters. Only Anna lacks credibility.
katheastman's review against another edition
5.0
Switching between 1819 and the heatwave summer of 1976, The Mathematics of Love is a beautifully-written novel, telling the stories of Stephen Fairhurst and teenager Anna Ware respectively. The novel is chiefly set in Suffolk and the home of Stephen Fairhurst (which is where Anna has been sent to spend her summer with an uncle in 1976), but some time is also spent in Belgium and Spain when Stephen travels there.
It gets off to a dramatic start with the Peterloo Massacre and I was quickly drawn in by the wonderful writing, the fully-realised characters and their story, or stories. I especially liked how letters were used to reveal Stephen Fairhurst's thoughts and feelings. The writing is incredibly good, so nuanced and richly descriptive that I happily sunk into it, like settling in among a mass of cushions, every time I opened the book. It's an ambitious and fully-realised novel which is deeply satisfying to read.
It gets off to a dramatic start with the Peterloo Massacre and I was quickly drawn in by the wonderful writing, the fully-realised characters and their story, or stories. I especially liked how letters were used to reveal Stephen Fairhurst's thoughts and feelings. The writing is incredibly good, so nuanced and richly descriptive that I happily sunk into it, like settling in among a mass of cushions, every time I opened the book. It's an ambitious and fully-realised novel which is deeply satisfying to read.
celiaedf12's review
4.0
I was kind of surprised by the varied reviews of this book on Goodreads - I guess you either love or hate it.
The book is two interwoven stories - Anna, in 70s England staying with her uncle at his country house, Kersey Hall, and Stephen, a Waterloo veteran who inherits Kersay Hall after the war. Anna, a precocious teenager lonely in the empty hall seeks the company of Theo & Eva, photographers who begin to teach her about cameras. Stephen corresponds with Lucy Derwood, an artist, and a close friendship forms between them which is tested when Stephen must come to terms with his past.
It's a lovely lush story and great to listen to, especially Stephen's correspondence with Lucy. I loved Anna learning about photography and playing with light, but I was kind of ambivalent about where Anna's relationship with Theo went - and I wasn't sure that it resolved enough for me to be happy with it.
I picked up the book because of Emma Darwin's fantastic blog on writing, and I'll definitely be looking for her next novel.
The book is two interwoven stories - Anna, in 70s England staying with her uncle at his country house, Kersey Hall, and Stephen, a Waterloo veteran who inherits Kersay Hall after the war. Anna, a precocious teenager lonely in the empty hall seeks the company of Theo & Eva, photographers who begin to teach her about cameras. Stephen corresponds with Lucy Derwood, an artist, and a close friendship forms between them which is tested when Stephen must come to terms with his past.
It's a lovely lush story and great to listen to, especially Stephen's correspondence with Lucy. I loved Anna learning about photography and playing with light, but I was kind of ambivalent about where Anna's relationship with Theo went - and I wasn't sure that it resolved enough for me to be happy with it.
I picked up the book because of Emma Darwin's fantastic blog on writing, and I'll definitely be looking for her next novel.
ailsabristow's review
2.0
I suppose that my main quibble with this novel is that I was expecting so much more: it is a perfectly enjoyable book but it wasn't 'remarkable' book that I was promised on the book jacket (note to self: why do I keep letting myself be drawn in by carefully selected and edited opinions?)
Anyway, I was in the mood for this book: it is set (partially) in post-Napoleonic Europe (tying in nicely to my previous read, The Volcano Lover) and promised an intriguing story that would breach time and space. Sadly, much though it tried, this novel didn't deliver. The connection between the 1820s and the 1970s was not strong enough; Anna's discovery of Stephen was incidental, it didn't really effect anything in her life; the stories were not interconnected enough to make the reading of two separate narratives worthwhile. Anna does not (once again, as the jacket says) become 'entangled' in Stephen's life: she reads his letters, thinks about them for a bit, then gets on with her own life. And fair enough, pretty believable for a fifteen year old girl with plenty of problems of her own to deal with, but not satisfying when that's the main conceit of the novel!
On top of this problem, the promised romance of the novel was just a bit thin. I was intrigued in the relationships set up, initially, especially in the details of Stephen's past (though these turned out to be very very predictable) but everything rattled along in the same old grooves that we have seen time and time again. The coming together of Lucy and Stephen was, I feel, the biggest let down of the book; up until that point I had really enjoyed her characterisation, her disregard for rules and society, her insistence on her own freedom. I could've even lived with it if she'd given Stephen a harder time for his (rapid onset- you could almost feel the author searching for a way to build tension) controlling streak, but unfortunately, it seems as though the author felt the best way to conclude this irregular heroine's interesting story was by pegging her in to a very tradtional happy ending. It jarred.
I have to say, I ended up enjoying the 1970s sections more and more as the book went on (maybe because of my interest in photography), and I thought the relationship between Anna and Theo (and to some extent, Eva) was interesting, especially as it introduced Anna to the spectrum of forms love can take. I only wish we had more of Eva and Theo's back story, especially what was tantalisingly hinted at in Eva and Theo's exchange on Eva's discovery of 'the affair'.
I suppose what I am saying *is* that this book had a lot of promise, and that there were glimmers of something more, but the payoff wasn't there, and that ultimately it descended into quite a conventional well-worn story, when I had hopes of reading something a bit more special.
Anyway, I was in the mood for this book: it is set (partially) in post-Napoleonic Europe (tying in nicely to my previous read, The Volcano Lover) and promised an intriguing story that would breach time and space. Sadly, much though it tried, this novel didn't deliver. The connection between the 1820s and the 1970s was not strong enough; Anna's discovery of Stephen was incidental, it didn't really effect anything in her life; the stories were not interconnected enough to make the reading of two separate narratives worthwhile. Anna does not (once again, as the jacket says) become 'entangled' in Stephen's life: she reads his letters, thinks about them for a bit, then gets on with her own life. And fair enough, pretty believable for a fifteen year old girl with plenty of problems of her own to deal with, but not satisfying when that's the main conceit of the novel!
On top of this problem, the promised romance of the novel was just a bit thin. I was intrigued in the relationships set up, initially, especially in the details of Stephen's past (though these turned out to be very very predictable) but everything rattled along in the same old grooves that we have seen time and time again. The coming together of Lucy and Stephen was, I feel, the biggest let down of the book; up until that point I had really enjoyed her characterisation, her disregard for rules and society, her insistence on her own freedom. I could've even lived with it if she'd given Stephen a harder time for his (rapid onset- you could almost feel the author searching for a way to build tension) controlling streak, but unfortunately, it seems as though the author felt the best way to conclude this irregular heroine's interesting story was by pegging her in to a very tradtional happy ending. It jarred.
I have to say, I ended up enjoying the 1970s sections more and more as the book went on (maybe because of my interest in photography), and I thought the relationship between Anna and Theo (and to some extent, Eva) was interesting, especially as it introduced Anna to the spectrum of forms love can take. I only wish we had more of Eva and Theo's back story, especially what was tantalisingly hinted at in Eva and Theo's exchange on Eva's discovery of 'the affair'.
I suppose what I am saying *is* that this book had a lot of promise, and that there were glimmers of something more, but the payoff wasn't there, and that ultimately it descended into quite a conventional well-worn story, when I had hopes of reading something a bit more special.
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