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A review by frankvanmeer
Pennance by Clare Ashton
2.0
I dropped a star because of the open ending. I've read 3 novels from Ms. Ashton, and this is the second one that does that. I hope ( and have every confidence) she can get past that.
Because the writing is beautiful.
Edit: Do NOT read this spoiler if you want to read this book.
Several hours after I read this book, something kept nagging me. Let me say that this is fiction, the author can write anything she wants, and if it's well done and plausable, that's ok. So maybe I am just overthinking this, but if you're able to write three dimensial characters and their inner turmoil as Ms. Ashton did with Lucy and find reasonable solutions to her problems, I expect you do the same with secondary characters. And it's a secondary character and the way it's handled that has me thinking something is really wrong with this book.
I'm talking about Sophia, Karen's daughter. She's 12, and she has some serious problems. The way she is handled is bullshit. The solution here is her father gets custody and she goes to live with him. All is well.
NO.
Sophia has a deep hatred for her mother and resents her brother. I suppose I csn't really blame her, after all, those two are in her mind responsible for her parent's failed marriage. But her actions show that there is more. It isn't really apparent at first (there are some red herrings that point to other people). In hindsight, it's obvious who has broken into Lucy's cottage and sent her the doll. But, let's be honest here, Sophia not only tried to kill Lucy, it's clear as well the accident with George on the cliff wasn't really an accident. It was an attempt to get rid of George.
So we have a twelve year old with some psychopathical tendencies and two attempts at murder. And the author's solution to all this, is have her live with her father (who himself doen't seem to be happy at all with any of his kids) and Karen and Lucy can happily live their lives.
That doesn't sit well with me. I think this is a very lame attempt to bring conclusion to a story without going to something more complicated. If Sophia was an adult, I could settle with this. But the kid is twelve and in my opinion needs professional help. In my opinion, Lucy didn't do anyone a favor by deleting the evidence.
It seems that Ms. Ashton didn't dare going there, in favor of a HEA. That is not good writing. The same happened with After Mrs. Hamilton. There was a nasty situation there as well, but was completely dropped for the same HEA.
I really hope that in future novels, Ms. Ashton finds a way to, if she creates a difficult situation, to bring those to a satifactory conclusion, even if that would stand in the way of a HEA.
Because the writing is beautiful.
Edit: Do NOT read this spoiler if you want to read this book.
Several hours after I read this book, something kept nagging me. Let me say that this is fiction, the author can write anything she wants, and if it's well done and plausable, that's ok. So maybe I am just overthinking this, but if you're able to write three dimensial characters and their inner turmoil as Ms. Ashton did with Lucy and find reasonable solutions to her problems, I expect you do the same with secondary characters. And it's a secondary character and the way it's handled that has me thinking something is really wrong with this book.
NO.
Sophia has a deep hatred for her mother and resents her brother. I suppose I csn't really blame her, after all, those two are in her mind responsible for her parent's failed marriage. But her actions show that there is more. It isn't really apparent at first (there are some red herrings that point to other people). In hindsight, it's obvious who has broken into Lucy's cottage and sent her the doll. But, let's be honest here, Sophia not only tried to kill Lucy, it's clear as well the accident with George on the cliff wasn't really an accident. It was an attempt to get rid of George.
So we have a twelve year old with some psychopathical tendencies and two attempts at murder. And the author's solution to all this, is have her live with her father (who himself doen't seem to be happy at all with any of his kids) and Karen and Lucy can happily live their lives.
That doesn't sit well with me. I think this is a very lame attempt to bring conclusion to a story without going to something more complicated. If Sophia was an adult, I could settle with this. But the kid is twelve and in my opinion needs professional help. In my opinion, Lucy didn't do anyone a favor by deleting the evidence.
It seems that Ms. Ashton didn't dare going there, in favor of a HEA. That is not good writing. The same happened with After Mrs. Hamilton. There was a nasty situation there as well, but was completely dropped for the same HEA.
I really hope that in future novels, Ms. Ashton finds a way to, if she creates a difficult situation, to bring those to a satifactory conclusion, even if that would stand in the way of a HEA.