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A review by pushingdessy
Lois the Witch by Elizabeth Gaskell
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Books like this keep me humble in my ability to read.
I saw "Lois the witch" recommended on bookstagram and thought, why not! I've never read anything from Gaskell, although then I found out she's also the author from the "North and South" novel that got an adaptation that many people are crazy about, so, despite my experience with this book, I might........ watch the movie.
While I intended to read only the titular short story, I found this anthology that includes three more stories: "The poor Clare", "The doom of the Griffiths" and "The crooked branch".
"The poor Clare" is about a woman who casts a curse on a man and it backfires on her. "The doom of the Griffiths" is about a self-fulfilling family curse. "Lois the witch" is about a young woman arriving to the colonies during times of puritan paranoia. Finally, "The crooked branch" is about a family and their deadbeat son.
Like I mentioned, the writing style made my reading experience a little challenging. I always think this is because English is my second language and, even though I've been reading in English daily for the past 15 years, this is clearly a different language from the one I'm familiar with. But I showed this to native speakers and they validated that fact that, actually, it's just a damn hard book.
That said, I thought it was interesting that all the stories revolved around the subject of complicated familiar relationships and betrayal. "Lois the witch" was definitely the gem of this anthology.
I saw "Lois the witch" recommended on bookstagram and thought, why not! I've never read anything from Gaskell, although then I found out she's also the author from the "North and South" novel that got an adaptation that many people are crazy about, so, despite my experience with this book, I might........ watch the movie.
While I intended to read only the titular short story, I found this anthology that includes three more stories: "The poor Clare", "The doom of the Griffiths" and "The crooked branch".
"The poor Clare" is about a woman who casts a curse on a man and it backfires on her. "The doom of the Griffiths" is about a self-fulfilling family curse. "Lois the witch" is about a young woman arriving to the colonies during times of puritan paranoia. Finally, "The crooked branch" is about a family and their deadbeat son.
Like I mentioned, the writing style made my reading experience a little challenging. I always think this is because English is my second language and, even though I've been reading in English daily for the past 15 years, this is clearly a different language from the one I'm familiar with. But I showed this to native speakers and they validated that fact that, actually, it's just a damn hard book.
That said, I thought it was interesting that all the stories revolved around the subject of complicated familiar relationships and betrayal. "Lois the witch" was definitely the gem of this anthology.