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A review by missapples
To the North by Elizabeth Bowen
I'm of two minds about this one so I won't rate it.
On one hand I loved the premise: two young English women of upper class navigate through life in the 1920s. One is a professional who owns a travel agency, a rare thing at the time! The other is a recently widowed but outgoing and alluring socialite. They share a house together and seem to be as close as sisters-in-law can be.
I also loved that a contemporary wrote about one of my favorite periods in history so it feels very true and organic. I liked the two main characters and their parallel lives. It is one of those smart, sophisticated and elegant novels about women that I’m always excited to find.
On the other hand... You know that saying about John Wayne? That “John Wayne always plays John Wayne”? Well, this is a book where every character is Elizabeth Bowen. How did I figure that? Because nobody speaks like that in real life, in overwritten, convoluted sentences. In her novel everyone does. All the time. Sure, literature IS an imaginary life but if you can’t lose yourself in the story, what is the purpose of it? Men and women in this novel talk as if they are the ones writing it. There’s almost no distinction between characters because of it - they ALL talk like one person, someone who really enjoys intricate metaphors that often don't make sense.
So, there. Roaring 20s, London, society, travel. Great premise, infuriating style. Trudging through its pages was painful but I finished it. I will try Bowen’s other novels which had been recommended to me and seem to have higher reviews here, but I’m a little wary of the author’s writing style. I can’t say I disliked the book completely. For one, my vocabulary has expanded. But I just can’t say I enjoyed it.
On one hand I loved the premise: two young English women of upper class navigate through life in the 1920s. One is a professional who owns a travel agency, a rare thing at the time! The other is a recently widowed but outgoing and alluring socialite. They share a house together and seem to be as close as sisters-in-law can be.
I also loved that a contemporary wrote about one of my favorite periods in history so it feels very true and organic. I liked the two main characters and their parallel lives. It is one of those smart, sophisticated and elegant novels about women that I’m always excited to find.
On the other hand... You know that saying about John Wayne? That “John Wayne always plays John Wayne”? Well, this is a book where every character is Elizabeth Bowen. How did I figure that? Because nobody speaks like that in real life, in overwritten, convoluted sentences. In her novel everyone does. All the time. Sure, literature IS an imaginary life but if you can’t lose yourself in the story, what is the purpose of it? Men and women in this novel talk as if they are the ones writing it. There’s almost no distinction between characters because of it - they ALL talk like one person, someone who really enjoys intricate metaphors that often don't make sense.
So, there. Roaring 20s, London, society, travel. Great premise, infuriating style. Trudging through its pages was painful but I finished it. I will try Bowen’s other novels which had been recommended to me and seem to have higher reviews here, but I’m a little wary of the author’s writing style. I can’t say I disliked the book completely. For one, my vocabulary has expanded. But I just can’t say I enjoyed it.