Author: Lisa Wingate
# of Pages: 375 (hardback)
Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Louisiana, 1875 In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: Lavinia, the pampered heir to a now-destitute plantation; Juneau Jane, her illegitimate free-born Creole half-sister; and Hannie, Lavinia's former slave. Each carries private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas, following dangerous roads rife with ruthless vigilantes and soldiers still fighting a war lost a decade before. For Lavinia and Juneau Jane, the journey is one of inheritance and financial desperation, but for Hannie, torn from her mother and eight siblings before slavery's end, the pilgrimage westward reignites an agonizing question: Could her long-lost family still be out there? Beyond the swamps lie the seemingly limitless frontiers of Texas and, improbably, hope.
Louisiana, 1987 For first-year teacher Benedetta Silva, a subsidized job at a poor rural school seems like the ticket to canceling her hefty student debt--until she lands in a tiny, out-of-step Mississippi River town. Augustine, Louisiana, seems suspicious of new ideas and new people, and Benny can scarcely comprehend the lives of her poverty-stricken students. But amid the gnarled oaks and run-down plantation homes lies the century-old history of three young women, a long-ago journey, and a hidden book that could change everything.
Review: This really wasn't the book for me.
What the author did well:
- I really liked the idea of this book - the story was based off a real "Lost Friends" column that aimed to reconnect families (especially slaves families freed post Civil War). The idea of delving into what it would be like to be the author of one of these Lost Friends ad is something that appealed to me and doubtlessly would appeal many other readers as well.
What fell short:
- The first person POV switching. While I know I have a tendency to dislike this form of storytelling in particular, it really was ruining the experience for me in this book. Wingate not only switches POVs, she also will time skip ahead and then explain what happened in the gap a bit later into the chapter. This is disorienting for the reader and also frustrating when a chapter was left on a cliff hanger only to be resolved in an anticlimatic way in the next chapter from that person's POV. It also has the same issues where I start to get into one character's story, only for it to switch to the other character. Which lead me to my next point...
- Benny Silva is a weak character. She is one of the protagonists of the book and acts as the "modern" perspective on the story being told. At first, her POV was a relief because she is the character the audience can relate to the most as an outsider to all the history covered in this book. However, her being an English teacher and a "bibliophile" and her part of the story being centered around these characteristics made this character seem like Wingate played it safe in creating someone in her domain as a writer.
- Benny Silva is an annoying character. She even said herself that she's overly optimistic. It's annoying that she has this attitude when most of the problem solving is done by those around her. The readers are meant to be impressed with what she accomplishes in the book, but I think she receives too much credit.
- In fact, both protagonists (the other being Hannie) receive more credit than they should. Hannie's story was more interesting to read, and she was more of a real adventuring heroine, but a lot of the problems she encountered were solved by happy coincidences that were pretty unrealistic.
- Wingates should tell less and show more. The reader gets more information through dialogue when many of the characters find themselves talking and explaining way more than what would seem natural if not to service as a plot device.
- Romance doesn't need to be the center of the story, but if an author is going to put ANY in, it should be developed well. None of the relationships between characters (platonic or not) had the depth that would make the reader feel emotionally invested.
I debated between giving this book 2 or 3 stars and finally settled on 2 due to it being a chore to read. It was an okay story, but the execution could have been a lot better. I wouldn't recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment