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A review by katmackie
Rustication by Charles Palliser
4.0
I received my copy through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
Having never read any of the author's other work, this book piqued my interest purely by a glance at the synopsis. Early on it was obvious that Palliser knows his stuff, for this is historical fiction on a highly practiced level.
The narrator and protagonist is Richard Shenstone, a seventeen year old student returned from school to his newly poor family and dilapidated house. As Shenstone's life is transformed around him, he struggles to grapple with family secrets and public humiliations, all that lead to a nasty crime. Shenstone, being only a teenager (in more trouble than usual, but still), is not a reliable narrator, which I believe makes the story as strong as it is. As a reader you are thrown many curve balls while more of the mysteries unravel. Just when you think you know the answer something else is thrown into the mix that alters the outcome.
All that being said, the unreliable narrator is definitely not for everyone. It certainly makes it harder to connect more personally with the protagonist (for me at least). But, this was all to the advantage of the mystery of the story. It took me a little while to calibrate correctly for this story, I have to say, but once I understood more about the character of Richard I was drawn deeper inside. This is a book that gets more and more enthralling as you continue to pursue it's answers, with a satisfying conclusion.
I can already tell that this one is going to have very mixed reviews. But if you're a fan of: Historical fiction, curve balls, bitchy socialites, and murder, then there is definitely something here for you.
Having never read any of the author's other work, this book piqued my interest purely by a glance at the synopsis. Early on it was obvious that Palliser knows his stuff, for this is historical fiction on a highly practiced level.
The narrator and protagonist is Richard Shenstone, a seventeen year old student returned from school to his newly poor family and dilapidated house. As Shenstone's life is transformed around him, he struggles to grapple with family secrets and public humiliations, all that lead to a nasty crime. Shenstone, being only a teenager (in more trouble than usual, but still), is not a reliable narrator, which I believe makes the story as strong as it is. As a reader you are thrown many curve balls while more of the mysteries unravel. Just when you think you know the answer something else is thrown into the mix that alters the outcome.
All that being said, the unreliable narrator is definitely not for everyone. It certainly makes it harder to connect more personally with the protagonist (for me at least). But, this was all to the advantage of the mystery of the story. It took me a little while to calibrate correctly for this story, I have to say, but once I understood more about the character of Richard I was drawn deeper inside. This is a book that gets more and more enthralling as you continue to pursue it's answers, with a satisfying conclusion.
I can already tell that this one is going to have very mixed reviews. But if you're a fan of: Historical fiction, curve balls, bitchy socialites, and murder, then there is definitely something here for you.