Thursday, November 20, 2014

2014 book 278

Jacqueline Winspear's The Care and Management of Lies
Winspear--author of the Maisie Dobbs mystery series--has written a standalone novel, published to coincide with the centennial of WWI. I admit to not realizing this was a /novel/ for a large chunk of it, and kept waiting for one of the three main characters to get murdered. Haha! Anyway, the three main characters are a young bride, formerly a schoolteacher; her husband, a farmer; and her best friend (also her husband's sister), a strident political activist/suffragette.There's also a neighbor who becomes somewhat obsessed w/ the bride after talking to her for less than five minutes and then reading all her letters to her husband (I think we are supposed to feel for his loneliness, but I found this off-putting). I don't say this often, but I actually think this could have been a little longer--things felt a little abrupt. The end was also mildly perplexing. Still, it was fine, no major complaints. B/B+.

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