Comment

Sep 05, 2016AtheenWilson rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I'd gladly give the book five stars except the system cancelled my rating every time I tried to!! Maybe the computer has less respect for the author's talent than I do. Anyway, stellar work. The narrative prose is very good. Not quite as rich as Erin Hart, but darn close to it. The characters were so real they bordered on "next door neighbors!" Except for the American couple. I can't believe that even the Brits believe in that parody of the "ugly American." They get our TV shows, just as we get theirs, and we reveal the boring as well as the glamourous and/or obnoxious. Nor are all of us as "in your face" as tourists either. Still, a little comic relief in a work, as gravid with tragedy as this one is, is probably a good thing, as Shakespeare himself was aware. As he knew, one can only deal out just so much dysfunction to an audience before they give up or become suicidal. I think we've become the American Falstaff. The tale is very dark, and gets more so as one gets into it. This author, like others recently, has used our expectations of "button" words against us to misdirect. For a first book, she does so skillfully. However, that said, I would say the book isn't quite for everybody. If you're inclined to be easily offended, I'd give it a miss.