Two books - one very good and one surprisingly bad.
The Road to Dalton
This story had me captivated by the poetic and descriptive writing. My complaint - I wanted the story to continue! The residents of Dalton Maine each have their own stories with chapters devoted to their secrets, fears and loves.
Trudy and Richard Haskell are central characters and appear in other stories as "supporting cast". Richard is the town doctor in this small town. He is good at his profession and very caring but he never wanted to be a doctor. His father was a doctor and it was expected he'd fill that void when dad retired. Richard wanted to build bridges.
His wife Trudy is the town librarian and falls in love with her best friend Bev.
Rose is a lovely young woman who is abused by Tommy, the father of her two children. She hides her bruises, makes excuses and hopes for a better life. Tommy is piece of work.
Nate and Bridget's story, well I won't give the spoilers on that but the passages about Bridget's train of thought midway through had me captivated. The writing here is so real.
There are many other characters and I very much enjoyed this slice of life in the little town of Dalton. Looking forward to more by Shannon Bowring. 5 stars.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Empty House
Book "travel" took me to Maine, Cornwall and Scotland this time.
Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday.
When I saw that you were reading another book by Pilcher, I was going to chime in and tell you how much I disliked it, but then I decided not to spoil it for you. She has written a few more novellas that I didn't like, so I've come to realize that I love her long novels, but not her shorter stories. Here's one review of End of Summer, just to steer you away from it, should you be tempted! https://lesleysbooknook.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-end-of-summer.html
ReplyDeleteOh, I just discovered my review for The Empty House. I guess I didn't hate it as much as I thought. https://lesleysbooknook.blogspot.com/2010/03/empty-house.html
Les, ALWAYS feel free to tel me that! I mean, don't give me spilers or anything but if it didn't rock your reading world I appreciate your point of view. I will check out your reviews. My favorites are the epic ones too. Shell Seekers and Coming Home. LOVED Coming Home. I bought Winter Solstice and plan to read it later this year.
DeleteYou are in for a treat with Winter Solstice. I enjoyed that even better than The Shell Seekers. Proably just as much as Coming Home. I have also read September (which is a big book, too), but don't remember much about it. Might read it later this year... maybe in September. :)
DeleteLes, I will wait until October or November for Winter Solstice. Lookign forward to that one and reading September with JoAnn. Join us!
DeleteIt's very disappointing when you read a book by an author you love and it's a not as good as you're expecting it to be.
ReplyDeleteVicki, so true. I just found the same with the new Tana French book. That's ok, I have loads to read at home, on Kindle and from the library. It's great to hear from you.
DeleteI loved The Road to Dalton and recently found out that Bowring is releasing a new Dalton book in September - Where the Forest Meets the River. Already added it to my list!
ReplyDeleteThat's so disappointing about The Empty House! I can safely remove it from my list now that I know neither you or Les liked it very much. I know you'll enjoy Winter Solstice though.
JoAnn, I loved that dalton book as well and was pleased to see there will be another book. I am looking forward to it. Oh, I was very disappointed about The Empty House. While Pilcher nails the scenery descriptions the dialogue was painful. Oh well.
DeleteI am regularly underwhelmed by Pilcher's shorter novels. I love her hefty books and her short stories but the ones in between are usually not my favorite. I just looked and I have Empty House next on my Pilcher reread list. I remember nothing about it but now I'm curious to see if I dislike Virginia as much as you did! I suspect I will! The "first great love" trope is one of my least favorites in general. The Road to Dalton sounds delightful though!
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I bought a book with three of her novels combined and we will see. Love the big fat novels though. There are some tragic moments in Road to Dalton but wow...the writing.
DeleteYou make me want to get to Road to Dalton. It sounds good. Too bad about the Pilcher novel -- I agree the turn of events in the book and what the mother does seems crazy. For Pilcher fans it seems like a stumper. I still need to read my first Pilcher novel and I think it might be The Shell Seekers. ....so popular a book!
ReplyDeleteSusan, it was great writing, in my opinion and am excited to see there is a followup book by Bowring. I also recommend Coming Home by Pilcher - epic story.
DeleteThat's too bad that The Empty House was a disappointment. I think that I found that character hard to tolerate, too.
ReplyDeleteJoy, at least I know Pilcher can author books I love! This was my first bomb.
DeleteI hate it when a beloved author disappoints me. I'm very glad to see how much you enjoyed Road to Dalton.
ReplyDeleteDeb, it was disappointing. Oh well, I have many more books upcoming!!g
DeleteUgh. I have zero respect for women like Virginia Keile who give up everything and pine away for a damn man.
ReplyDeleteJinjer, she was definitely not a character you could sympathize with, so vapid.
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