Suzanne
Rating:
Review
I was immediately drawn in by this story's dramatic opening: 20-something Alice Raikes takes the train on the spur of the moment from London all the way to Scotland to visit her sisters, then just as quickly decides she has to return after having scarcely arrived. Something she sees in the train station there leaves her in shock. Later that same day she is hit by a car in London and goes into a coma. The remainder of the book provides the background leading up to this eventful day. Alice is confident and intense and knows what she wants, which made me really like her. Scenes from Alice's love life are interspersed with telling episodes from her mother Ann and grandmother Elspeth's earlier days. O'Farrell superbly conveys the shock and numbness of loss. This is a tragedy in the best sense of the word, straightforward and honest and contemporary.
Best Line:
"To her, the town, trapped as it was between the sea and the flat monotony of the agricultural fields, was a pit that seethed with gossip, circles of knowledge and people who clawed information from you." (pg. 318)
Kim
Rating:
Review
This story is off and running fast from the start, and though I may have been a little lost at first, it didn't take long to catch up and familiarize myself with all the characters, especially the main one, Alice. I'll say it right now: I found Alice fascinating. The story jumps around quite a bit but it works out well since there is a lot to tell. At the beginning, we don't know why Alice is so despondent, but she is, and when she is hit by a car in what may have been a suicide attempt, she spends the rest of the story in a coma, leaving the details of her life up until now to her family and friends. Sometimes the story is told from Alice's viewpoint, which could make this tale confusing, or worse, hard to believe, but in Ms. O'Farrell's hands we are rewarded with interesting, full-bodied characters and a rich story that this reader enjoyed, appreciated and highly recommends. I could not put it down.
Best Line:
"The strangest thing about this is that a thought can go on and on circling your mind, that you can't stop obsessing over it, that there are no brakes to apply to things you no longer want to think about."
