Maisie Dobbs
Maisie Dobbs
Reading other people's book lists can be a tough slog. I have not been doing too well lately with my blogstalker book list, but I think that would happen anytime you follow someone else's choices.
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst. Very well written, very slow moving. The story of Nick, an American in London in the 80's. Nick lives with a wealthy Tory family in Margaret Thatcher's England. I read about 150 pages when I realized that Nick's story just didn't grab me all that much. I am too old to read books when I am not excited about them. Critics loved it.
Amy and Isabelle by Elisabeth Strout. A contrast to the above book, Isabelle and her daughter Amy are working class women in Maine sometime in the recent past. Their lives are not exciting, but maybe I just didn't read far enough to discover a plot in this book. Time to move on after 75 pages.
Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspear. This one I did finish. Not well received critically, but a popular success. Maisie is a woman in 1929 London. She is from the "lower" classes, but by her natural intelligence and pluckiness and the help of some upper class mentors who recognize her great potential, she is able to go to Cambridge and then start her own private investigation company. Sound cliched? It is. I think the author just read "Upstairs, Downstairs" one too many times. It felt also like she was writing directly for the BBC, hoping that "Mystery" or some other BBC program would pick up on Maisie's story, which I admit, would make a great miniseries, kind of like "Upstairs, Downstairs" meets Nancy Drew. That is a winning combination. There were just too many cheeky working class people, rich yet discerning upper class people, etc for it to feel original. And everyone LOVES Maisie and does her all sorts of favors that move the plot along but which are pretty unrealistic. I would watch the TV series, though, it would have great 1920's clothes and old cars and people drinking tea and talking in British accents.......
Reading other people's book lists can be a tough slog. I have not been doing too well lately with my blogstalker book list, but I think that would happen anytime you follow someone else's choices.
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst. Very well written, very slow moving. The story of Nick, an American in London in the 80's. Nick lives with a wealthy Tory family in Margaret Thatcher's England. I read about 150 pages when I realized that Nick's story just didn't grab me all that much. I am too old to read books when I am not excited about them. Critics loved it.
Amy and Isabelle by Elisabeth Strout. A contrast to the above book, Isabelle and her daughter Amy are working class women in Maine sometime in the recent past. Their lives are not exciting, but maybe I just didn't read far enough to discover a plot in this book. Time to move on after 75 pages.
Maisie Dobbs by Jaqueline Winspear. This one I did finish. Not well received critically, but a popular success. Maisie is a woman in 1929 London. She is from the "lower" classes, but by her natural intelligence and pluckiness and the help of some upper class mentors who recognize her great potential, she is able to go to Cambridge and then start her own private investigation company. Sound cliched? It is. I think the author just read "Upstairs, Downstairs" one too many times. It felt also like she was writing directly for the BBC, hoping that "Mystery" or some other BBC program would pick up on Maisie's story, which I admit, would make a great miniseries, kind of like "Upstairs, Downstairs" meets Nancy Drew. That is a winning combination. There were just too many cheeky working class people, rich yet discerning upper class people, etc for it to feel original. And everyone LOVES Maisie and does her all sorts of favors that move the plot along but which are pretty unrealistic. I would watch the TV series, though, it would have great 1920's clothes and old cars and people drinking tea and talking in British accents.......
posted by Shelly at 9:14 AM
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