Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.
Fiction
2001 Doubleday
Read in November 2001
Rating: 3/5 (OK)
Publisher's Blurb:
A beautiful and mesmerizing debut, Coldwater is the tale of three sisters, the dangers of isolation, and the explosive repercussions when seemingly absolute power is challenged.
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Wolf live on Coldwater, a penal colony off the coast of Australia, where their father, Captain Wolf, rules the household with the same unyielding sternness he imposes on the inmates. The young women rarely venture beyond their corner of the island and meet no one but the prison guards. Their imaginations, however, know no boundaries, and together the three conjure up complex and magical lands. They vow to become novelists, dreaming of literary fame and of lives far from the harsh desolation of Coldwater.
As governor of the convict island, Captain Wolf is working on a masterpiece of his own–the perfect prison. His theories of prison management have proven remarkably effective: During his tenure, not one prisoner has escaped. The arrival of an unusual convict from famine-stricken Ireland seems an opportunity to create a model prisoner–until one of his daughters becomes obsessed with the handsome young man and the delicate balance the family has constructed is shaken beyond repair.
This remarkable story grew from the author’s lifelong curiosity about the Brontë sisters and their classic novels. Taking the few seeds that history reveals about Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontë, McConnochie has skillfully reimagined their lives and created a work of fiction as imbued with passion as their novels and as psychologically riveting as any contemporary thriller.
Mardi McConnochie’s first novel, told through the eyes of the Wolf sisters, is an unforgettable portrait of the love and fear, the trust and betrayal, and the potential for freedom in one extraordinary family.
My Original Thoughts (2001):
I'm savoring this one! Lots of passages I want to mark. Alternating POVs. Definitely a book I'd like to own to read again...Well, that's how I felt at the beginning of the book, but it fizzled out at the halfway mark. Flat characters. No connection to anyone. Easy to put down.
My Current Thoughts:
It's too bad this wasn't a more even story, since I enjoyed the first chapters so well.
Bummer on the last part of the book. You had my interest from the beginning description.
ReplyDeleteTina, I guess they can't all be winners, right?
DeleteOh no, loving the first half of a book only to have it fade is such a disappointment!
ReplyDeleteHelen, I know! And yet, I remember nothing about the book after all these years...
DeleteVicki, and conversely, I've read a few books that started out badly/slowly and then turned into something I absolutely loved. You just never know!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the few books you read in your past that I haven't read, Les. I think it's a good thing!
ReplyDeleteDeb, I wonder what inspired me to read this one? It might have been an ARC that caught my eye, but it's not one that any of my friends have read.
Delete