Rated of 5
by mickey
This is a beautiful work about Ireland and its people, which is changing despite their wishes. It shows us how long-reaching our actions, or inactions, can be and how these people stayed long enough to feel their effects. What a beautifully written story - not a fast-paced novel, but one that can be reread in sections to more fully understand.
Rated of 5
by Anonymous
As I was reading the book, I found it difficult to believe its probability. In many books, the reader goes along quite easily with what the author has developed, but I found myself asking, "Would they really do that? I didn't find the actions of the main characters believable - I thought the author manipulated his characters too much in order to get across the message he wanted to relay. As an allegory, yes, I could accept it, but as a book where the actions of the characters were believable, I don't think so.
Rated of 5
by mary adams
In truth, this book was simply too vague. There was not enough motivation given, I felt, for a young girl to tie herself to a scabrous estate like Lahardane for life. I simply could not buy that one act of disobedience would make a child, no matter how young, feel that she ought to do such a life-effacing thing. Trevor lays out very little in the way of character development. It is clear to me that there are meant to be historical parallels, but because the book has so little plot or development, it is really quite hard to see what those might be. The reader has to resort to making guesses, and truth be told I would rather expend energy elsewhere than on such unfruitful soil.
Rated of 5
by Maryann
A very compelling story - hard to put down. The inevitability of Lucy's tragic life is very moving and ultimately logical. The depiction of the historical era and setting is brilliantly accurate. The formality of the family's relations among themselves and with the wider community, and the burden of living up to others' expectations is a universal theme. Highly recommended.
Rated of 5
by Anonymous
i felt that william trevor wanted me to believe too much, for his story to live.
Rated of 5
by M Lamb
An old-fashioned book that relies on a barely-credible plot and finely controlled evocative writing. I couldn't really swallow the plot line, and the writing moved me only in places...I began to think I was needlessly wasting my time with this book as Lucy was needlessly wasting her life away.
Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
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