Reviews
I picked this up to take on holiday. The blurb sounded interesting and the quotes on the cover were from a lot of people whose opinions I respected - something I’ve discovered is a good gauge when buying an unknown book.
The story has an interesting literary framing device in Sophie’s story being told by the six people who knew her best. The synopsis says “loved” her, but I don’t believe they all did. Whilst this was an interesting way to structure the story, I felt all the characters had the same voice; they all described things the same way, spoke the same way, had the same kind of sadness. The latter I think was part of the point - this shared sadness was something they all had in common - but it didn’t feel distinct enough and began to feel repetitive.
I found some elements of Sophie’s story a little unbelievable and unrealistic, which made it hard to get fully immersed in the story.
Having said all that, I did enjoy the author’s writing style, and I did think generally the story was interesting. I also devoured this book in a week, which never happens! So that counts for something.
I'm torn about this one. It's certainly intriguing, at the least, but I was reluctant to pick it up and read it each day. I'm not sure why, since I genuinely liked much of it. I think most of the problems come from the narrative mode. It's written from multiple first-person perspectives, but they all write like the same person. But the larger issue is that it almost felt like the characters were doing that "I knew [x celebrity] in high school!" thing, even though it becomes apparent that's definitely not what's happening. That said, the polyphonic narrative did make Sophie a more developed character, but this comes at the risk of not developing the other characters enough. So I'm a little ambivalent. But if it sounds good to you I'd try it. Also: I'd like to see, if North writes another novel, what it will be.
Loved This I have been meaning to read this book since it was first published. It didn't disappoint. Anna North really tapped into the cost of art on the artist, and the way strangers take ownership of someone else's work. I've been guilty of reading a book or seeing a film and thinking I've learned something about the people attached to it. I really liked the idea that Sophie could see everyone better than they saw themselves and was repeatedly punished for it. There's always this idea of artists pulling from the lives of others, but I don't think enough thought it given to the isolation that can cause, when people are afraid to be close to you or resent you because they believe you're using them for material. This was such an interesting book.
this book is not something i have read before ... in the best way possible
I liked the premise of this book, but didn't like it as much as I hoped that I would. The chapters were a little long for my tastes.
