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A review by bookishwendy
Diana by R.F. Delderfield
3.0
I really got into the first half of this (rather one-sided) love story set against class differences in the idyllic English countryside between the wars. Orphaned teenaged Jan is cheerfully used and emotionally wrung dry by the brash heiress of an investment magnate. She inspires him to better himself, enlists him in harebrained adventures about the country, drops him in at every shifting whim, and still he comes back for more. It reminded me a bit of [book:The Forsyte Saga|103159] in reverse, but a more apt comparison is probably season one of Downton Abbey. It cleverly alternates between subtle and scandalous, and kept me coming back for more. If only the book had ended with Dunkirk, I would have been satisfied with a bittersweet ending.
But it doesn't end there, and there's a noticeable shift in the story around 60% that made me wonder if the last part had been written much later and tacked on--the lengthy recap at the start of a new section suggests this may have been written as a sequel, as does the fact that Diana's mare Sioux suddenly becomes a "he". If the first part was season one of Downton, then the last 40% is season two: there's a war on now, shifting away from subtlety to high melodrama while the characters become caricatures of their former selves. Suddenly our main leads are leading improbable spy missions in occupied France, murdering without remorse. I admit that I started skimming.
I considered dropping my review to two stars because by the time I finished this I was longing for THE END, but I still experienced a burst of emotion in the final pages despite myself. If not for the unnecessary and interminable war section I would have given this four stars. Still, I keep thinking fondly about the first half and am tempted to check out the BBC adaptation to see if it holds up in translation to screen.
But it doesn't end there, and there's a noticeable shift in the story around 60% that made me wonder if the last part had been written much later and tacked on--the lengthy recap at the start of a new section suggests this may have been written as a sequel, as does the fact that Diana's mare Sioux suddenly becomes a "he". If the first part was season one of Downton, then the last 40% is season two: there's a war on now, shifting away from subtlety to high melodrama while the characters become caricatures of their former selves. Suddenly our main leads are leading improbable spy missions in occupied France, murdering without remorse. I admit that I started skimming.
I considered dropping my review to two stars because by the time I finished this I was longing for THE END, but I still experienced a burst of emotion in the final pages despite myself. If not for the unnecessary and interminable war section I would have given this four stars. Still, I keep thinking fondly about the first half and am tempted to check out the BBC adaptation to see if it holds up in translation to screen.