by Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel's portrayal of the highly-charged interactions among young women contains traces of Tudor politics: powerplay, backstabbing and a very thin line between friends and enemies. The novel charts the coming-of-age of Carmel McBain, who many years later is sifting through her memory. Carmel ...
Eh. The book started okay, had a very interesting middle section, and then a kind of whatever ending. Not a bad read, but nothing to write home about. Enjoying Mantel's Wolf Hall more than I enjoyed this one so far.
Reminds me of Joyce Carol Oates' "I'll Take You There." Petty college tiffs, starving girls and life-long feuds.
Still in awe of Hilary Mantel's writing, but this one didn't grab me the same way her books have. Still a much better read than average. 31/2 stars really.
why: the cloud on Flork told me this is an author I'd like. I'm not up for the 500+-page "A Place of Greater Safety," so I'd like to try this one. Also, the pressures on women in early 1960's London interest me.
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