to be read

Caught today at the Birmingham bc meet-up, looks v.interesting and came recommended so I look forward to getting to it on the tbr.

Hmmm....If I'm honest I struggled with this book. The prose style used is not my kind of thing - it's a bit hard to get your head around and then even when you do it makes it hard to empathise with the characters. It reminded me a little of Virginia Wolf in that respect.

The story is a classic one with a bit of a twist and one I'm usually interested in, however once again I feel it's been done better elsewhere. That said, at least it tried to do something different instead of being formulaic, so brownie points to O'Brien for that!

The final thing which really got to me is that I couldn't work out what time period it was placed in! I suppose this was intentional - to ensure that the work has a 'timeless' feel to it - but there are some important legal/moral shifts that have occurred in Ireland on the matter it discusses and it was difficult to place the story in the right context of these without knowing the timeframe for the story.

Now on it's way to Fairfaxgirl who has had it on her wishlist for about three years! I hope it has been worth the wait and the book finds more joy with you than with me :)

I'm really delighted to have this book! I expected it to take much longer than four days to reach me from the UK, but it landed safely in my mailbox today! Thank you, peanutlion! I read your comments on the book so now I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I do plan to read it and will journal it again later. I've been eager to read something by Edna O'Brien ever since reading a very favorable article about her in Book World several years ago.
(Book World is part of the Sunday Washington Post.) Thank you so much, peanutlion, for your thoughtfulness and generosity in sending this book to me.

I finished this book today, and I must say that it was quite a disturbing story. I didn't really mind O'Brien's prose style as the story held my interest throughout. The time frame was a bit of a puzzle as you said, peanutlion, and for the reasons you gave. I enjoyed this book enough that I'd definitely like to read more of O'Brien. Thanks again, peanutlion, for the kindness of sending it across the Atlantic to grant one of my 'wishes'! I'm putting it on reserve for delivery to a bookcrosser friend in North Carolina.

This book was brought to me by my friend fairfaxgirl and I'm eager to read it. Thanks fairfaxgirl!

This was rather a difficult book to read. I can't say I enjoyed it but did find it interesting. Thank you for sharing fairfaxgirl. I have given it to my daughter, morning angel who lives in Rock Hill.