Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Now that I have finished reading the book, this is an edited review of my post when I reached the 40% mark. I have no complaints as far as the quality of the author's writing. At 648 pages for the print edition, it reads like a slow murmur - a soothing narrative, an opportunity to read for the pleasure of reading. However, its strength is often its weakness. The first 2/5ths of the book is excrutiatingly slow paced and frustrating in the sense that it can be summarized in Imogen's determination to be miserable. She is supported by a handful of characters who basically enable her in her quest for martyrdom. When Imogen sits in the shade, she wishes she were in the sun. She moves to the sun to wish she were back in the shade. Over and over and over again. As a 21st century analogy, imagine Imogen being that familiar facebook sort of friend who frequently updates her status with "worst day of my life", "I wish I could be happy" and then responds to comments such as "what's wrong?" or "this too shall pass" with frustratingly defeatist and self-pitying "I don't want to talk about it" or "I know". There's over 250 pages of this. Making it worse is the author was obviously aware of her protagonist's course since several characters, even the "evil" ones point out her persistence to wallow in self-pity, yet she unsurprisingly responds by saying she can't help it. Oh well, at least she's consistent. Fortunately Imogen gradually begins to make an effort and our secret wish that the novel turn into a murder mystery abates (Imogen being the victim). It could've been one way for this novel to go because the list of suspects would've been long, the reader being one of them. Commenters reading this might criticise me for my harsh judgement of Imogen. Maybe, considering her traumatic experiences already suffered at the start of the novel (not a spoiler, this is clear early on). What bothers me is the whiny, passive-aggressive, and final it's-true-love-if-he-jumps-through-many-many-many-hoops-and-then-you-get-over-it message of the novel. That's not how victims of abuse heal in real life. Besides, in the latter 3/5th of the novel, Imogen is more concerned about the fact that she is not a virgin to her husband rather than really overcoming legitimate abuse/exploitation issues. So if the author doesn't treat it as such, neither will I. So! Now that Imogen finally sets on a path to happiness, the road is long and repetitive and brings us to a convoluted dénouement that leaves more questions than answers. On the hows and the whys, we must settle for the "evil" characters' trifle motives as to why they bothered making nuisances of themselves in the first place. These revelations occur in awkward dialogue that ring particularly unrealistic. People don't explain themselves by saying (paraphrasing) "I've done completely pointless and vindictive things all my life because I'm a bitter and insecure person". People don't talk like that, much less two men, much much less two 19th century men. On the other hand, there are passages such as the build-up and act of a minor character's suicide that successfully conveys the character's despair. But then her death is followed with (paraphrasing) "so then they buried her and her son was sad". Wha'?! And there's a budding love sub-plot that threatened to pique my interest completely at Imogen's expense. But the apparently reluctant lovebirds leave the novel and we unfortunately cannot follow them. Which brings me to my final point: other than Imogen and her true love, the author summarily disposes of every other character without a clue as to their fate or even provide any relative closure as to their purpose in the novel. She treats her themes pretty much in the same way; the characters and events barely tie-in with one another. One character outright vanishes when we last hear of him resting in a room upstairs. It's like a one year-old child's reality: out of sight = it no longer exists. The End "Meh"