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eimear_stockmann's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/08/09/review-1704-the-peacock-spring/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2021/08/09/review-1704-the-peacock-spring/
soniapage's review against another edition
2.0
I guess you'd have to call this a "coming of age" story. Two young girls join their diplomat father in India. He has hired a "governess" for them who turns out to be more than that. I had remembered seeing a PBS Masterpiece Theater presentation of this years ago but couldn't remember the story line. The book would probably be of more interest to teenaged girls. It's a reminder of how naive teenagers can be. I found the author's writing style to be strange.
mrswythe89's review against another edition
3.0
An absorbing read -- I started and finished it in one day -- but even though Godden's prose is beautiful and her characters are all fully-fleshed people, I was, inevitably, uncomfortable with how the race issues were handled. It's like when I read The Diddakoi (oh, hm, I haven't done a review of The Diddakoi yet) -- anyway, obviously The Diddakoi was from the point of view of Kizzy and it was all about discrimination is bad etc. etc., but I felt it was basically flawed by the fact that Godden, all unconscious, did actually think gypsies were inferior. It was obvious from a couple of throwaway remarks, the way she distinguished between her main character and, say, the gypsies who come when her grandmother's passed away. (There's one line where she talks about the ingratiating tones that gypsies can always adopt, something like that, and all my hair just stood on end.)
Here I got mad annoyed because the sanctimonious little white girls and their UN dad are all, oh, we accept Alix Lamont's mom, all this stuff ~doesn't matter~, and it's implied they're like this because they're so enlightened. More like because they live in a bubble of privilege. There's no acknowledgment in the text that the reason why Alix strives as she does and indulges in all her shifts is because of the massively imperialist, institutionally racist society that's ranged against her, and Una and Edward and Hal are so incredibly sheltered from the ugly side of that -- in fact, they actively benefit from it. Of course, Hem and Ravi do tell Una off when she's being all "~but Indians are so simple and beautiful~", but end of the day, it's just -- it's all personal. I think Godden's position prevents her from having the clarity about the system that's really required to write this and not have it be cringingly awful in places.
(Also, does Una really mean what I think she means when she mentions Alix's brown diamond and says "We don't have many diamonds in the family, especially brown ones"? Because URGHHHHH!)
Anyway -- yeah. An interesting book by a talented writer, but profoundly flawed IMO.
Here I got mad annoyed because the sanctimonious little white girls and their UN dad are all, oh, we accept Alix Lamont's mom, all this stuff ~doesn't matter~, and it's implied they're like this because they're so enlightened. More like because they live in a bubble of privilege. There's no acknowledgment in the text that the reason why Alix strives as she does and indulges in all her shifts is because of the massively imperialist, institutionally racist society that's ranged against her, and Una and Edward and Hal are so incredibly sheltered from the ugly side of that -- in fact, they actively benefit from it. Of course, Hem and Ravi do tell Una off when she's being all "~but Indians are so simple and beautiful~", but end of the day, it's just -- it's all personal. I think Godden's position prevents her from having the clarity about the system that's really required to write this and not have it be cringingly awful in places.
(Also, does Una really mean what I think she means when she mentions Alix's brown diamond and says "We don't have many diamonds in the family, especially brown ones"? Because URGHHHHH!)
Anyway -- yeah. An interesting book by a talented writer, but profoundly flawed IMO.
lucilfer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
turning_every_paige's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Godden’s storytelling is unique and very interesting, which bumped my review up to 2 stars. I will most likely check out more of her work!
But this story was so problematic and I didn’t enjoy most of it. It had a very slow, boring start; once we were finally “into” the story, I was very interested in it! But the second half of the book took a sharp turn, full of unrealistic events and so much melodrama.
Also, the fact that Ravi is a college-age adult and Una is only 15 sort of made me sick.
And that ending was just… wut?
CW: frequent mild language, sexual situations involving a minor, physical abuse
2 ⭐️
But this story was so problematic and I didn’t enjoy most of it. It had a very slow, boring start; once we were finally “into” the story, I was very interested in it! But the second half of the book took a sharp turn, full of unrealistic events and so much melodrama.
Also, the fact that Ravi is a college-age adult and Una is only 15 sort of made me sick.
And that ending was just… wut?
CW: frequent mild language, sexual situations involving a minor, physical abuse
2 ⭐️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
marthaguymaid's review against another edition
- 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