Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Book Review -- Letters from Skye

My enjoyment rating: 2 of 5 stars
Book hangover rating: 0
Source:  BookBrowse.com
Genre: Fiction, historical fiction
Objectionable material: None

Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole is an epistolary generational novel, set in both WWI and WWII. We learn about the lives of Elspeth Dunn and her long distant suitor, Davey – and later, Elspeth’s daughter, Margaret, through their letters, as Margaret tries to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past.

I never felt any attachment to any of the characters. The letters’ prose seemed to be far too modern to be written at the earlier part of the 20th century. As chapters shifted between time periods – there was no distinct “voice” to differentiate between the letters. If it hadn't been for the chapter headings, one wouldn’t know if it was Elspeth or Margaret “writing” the prose. The plot was thin, and the ending contrived and predictable. I was emotionally detached throughout the entire novel.



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8 comments:

Tina's Blog said...

Bummer...this is a book I sort of thought I would like, but I am thinking I don't need to spend much time on it after reading your review.

Monika @ Lovely Bookshelf said...

Awww that's too bad. Thanks for the honest review.

Melissa @ Confessions of an Avid Reader said...

That sucks. I have this one for review and I hope my thoughts on it don't match yours.

Gerbera Daisy Diaries said...

@Melissa: I was totally unimpressed. I really hope you have a better experience. Many have compared it to "Guernsey" -- but other than it being an epistolary novel, there was no similarity whatsoever. I really enjoyed “Guernsey.”

Anna said...

I'll be reading this one soon; I just hope I like it more than you did. I have such high hopes for it! Sorry you were disappointed.

Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...

I had my eye on this one. Too bad it's not as good as you expected!

Booksnyc said...

I had been interested in this book both due to the epistolary format and the Scottish setting but your review is giving me pause. Thanks for the honest review.

Amused said...

This kind of bums me out. It sounds like the type of book I usually adore. I'll go into it with a little more caution!