The minor characters are painted with the same care and the entire structure seemed faultless to me. The deliberate spitefulness and disassociation of the daughter and Aunt are especially demanding of the reader, who cannot help but question the nature/nurture arguments of 'good' women raising 'flawed' children - although my mentioning this is too simplistic and Maryann Austin's novel is anything but. The character portraits throw up a lot of unanswered questions and I like it more for that - the reader is challenged to understand the complex personalities and they feel more believable for that. This is not a big book and for the main part covers a relatively small window of time, but the detail is fully-formed and the characters so well written that their qualities are recognisable, in real people we all know. The writing is great, beautiful in parts, making it a breeze to read. I loved this book from page one, it's a very special author who can throw their voice for the reader to hear.
0 kommentar(er)
