A review by serendipity_viv
The Quietness by Alison Rattle
5.0
Originally posted on www.serendipityreviews.co.uk
Told from two perspectives in first and third person, this book portrays a very dark and realistic image of Victorian London. The two main characters, Queenie and Ellen’s are the complete opposite of each other and yet each suffers in their own way. The author takes both extremes and skilfully blends them together.
Queenie’s life is extremely hard. To have to fight for every morsel of food on a daily basis must have been indescribable. Yet she was loved. She came from a family that cared, even if they sometimes went off the rail. However, Queenie is oblivious to the love that surrounds her; she is too consumed by her need to escape poverty to see it.
On the other hand, Ellen has everything money could buy; however money can’t buy the thing you need most in life – love. The clinical coldness of her father sent shivers down my spine. He really was a boneless creature. His unhealthy interest in the workings of his daughter’s body was extremely weird. Ellen’s life was cold and lonely and I just wanted to hug her.
Queenie and Ellen are such wonderful characters, with strong convictions and lots of emotion. Through every sadness they suffered, you felt every bit of it through the author’s narrative. During the birth scene, I felt the strong emotions that bound the mother and child, an excellent example of the writer’s ability to portray realistic emotions through her words.
The story unravels delicately as we gradually learn more about the two girls. Surprises will occur naturally within the plot as you lose yourself in the story. The chapters are quite short and you find yourself reading the book very quickly, eager to find out what happens next to each character.
The descriptions of Victorian London are vivid, yet brutal and honest. The author has taken the historical information and breathed life into it, make it real and easy to imagine. I could easily see this book being televised.
I really loved this book, even though it did make me cry at the end. A stunning portrayal of hidden history that needs to be told.
Told from two perspectives in first and third person, this book portrays a very dark and realistic image of Victorian London. The two main characters, Queenie and Ellen’s are the complete opposite of each other and yet each suffers in their own way. The author takes both extremes and skilfully blends them together.
Queenie’s life is extremely hard. To have to fight for every morsel of food on a daily basis must have been indescribable. Yet she was loved. She came from a family that cared, even if they sometimes went off the rail. However, Queenie is oblivious to the love that surrounds her; she is too consumed by her need to escape poverty to see it.
On the other hand, Ellen has everything money could buy; however money can’t buy the thing you need most in life – love. The clinical coldness of her father sent shivers down my spine. He really was a boneless creature. His unhealthy interest in the workings of his daughter’s body was extremely weird. Ellen’s life was cold and lonely and I just wanted to hug her.
Queenie and Ellen are such wonderful characters, with strong convictions and lots of emotion. Through every sadness they suffered, you felt every bit of it through the author’s narrative. During the birth scene, I felt the strong emotions that bound the mother and child, an excellent example of the writer’s ability to portray realistic emotions through her words.
The story unravels delicately as we gradually learn more about the two girls. Surprises will occur naturally within the plot as you lose yourself in the story. The chapters are quite short and you find yourself reading the book very quickly, eager to find out what happens next to each character.
The descriptions of Victorian London are vivid, yet brutal and honest. The author has taken the historical information and breathed life into it, make it real and easy to imagine. I could easily see this book being televised.
I really loved this book, even though it did make me cry at the end. A stunning portrayal of hidden history that needs to be told.