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spideog's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
It mostly just bored me, the only thing that kept me going was the narration by Katie Mcgrath.
quillyreads's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It’s 1856, and Clorinda Morrisey leave behind Ireland to start a new life in bath. She sells an heirloom necklace to fund a new venture, a tea room, where she hopes the cream of society will gather amidst her cream tea and pastries. Clorinda is a warm and amiable character, and given how prominent she was at the start of the book you’d be forgiven for thinking she is the protagonist, and I’m actually a little disappointed we could not have a book with her at the very forefront.
The tea room is the focal point at the start, like a play we are introduced to Jane Adeane, a nurse, and her colleague Dr Valentine Ross who stages an awkward and unsuccessful proposal within the early pages. We also encounter Jane’s father, Sir William and as the book progresses witness the relationships of this core quarter evolve amidst their professional lives and spaces in the tea room and surgery at Bath.
Meanwhile Valentine’s brother Edmund arrives in Borneo to pursue botany and meets the immutable Sir Ralph Savage, self-appointed rajah and his beautiful but scheming lover, Leon.
I was engrossed early on by this book, with a clean writing style I found very easy to read and believably described the period, its people, and their aspirations and biases. It highlights issues and beliefs of the era, but in a way that feels mildly condemning without feeling like a modern derision. The cast is not your typical period piece, and the women especially are rich, independent characters that I find now I’ve finished I wish had more space and time within the pages.
I particularly loved Jane’s storyline with her aunt Emmeline in the art studio in London, and the lesbian love affair that blooms there, and the growing pressure to enter a conventional marriage with Valentine. The book pushes this storyline as its core plot point, however it is not the majority of the book given the various interweaving narratives. Meanwhile Valentine Ross goes through one of the most intense character arcs I have ever encountered, as I had a lot of sympathy for him in the beginning but as the story progressed felt such revulsion I actually struggled to get through his pages and it dampened the compelling Jane storyline.
While I found the book captivating and think it is the best example of parallel narrative I have ever read. I didn’t find any section a particular slog, however I wonder if the book would miss the Borneo sections if removed.
Overall, a slow but pleasant read. An engaging start but I did find the final sections a bit of a slog, except for the interlude in Ireland. Generally deft storytelling, with an interesting cast of characters.
The tea room is the focal point at the start, like a play we are introduced to Jane Adeane, a nurse, and her colleague Dr Valentine Ross who stages an awkward and unsuccessful proposal within the early pages. We also encounter Jane’s father, Sir William and as the book progresses witness the relationships of this core quarter evolve amidst their professional lives and spaces in the tea room and surgery at Bath.
Meanwhile Valentine’s brother Edmund arrives in Borneo to pursue botany and meets the immutable Sir Ralph Savage, self-appointed rajah and his beautiful but scheming lover, Leon.
I was engrossed early on by this book, with a clean writing style I found very easy to read and believably described the period, its people, and their aspirations and biases. It highlights issues and beliefs of the era, but in a way that feels mildly condemning without feeling like a modern derision. The cast is not your typical period piece, and the women especially are rich, independent characters that I find now I’ve finished I wish had more space and time within the pages.
I particularly loved Jane’s storyline with her aunt Emmeline in the art studio in London, and the lesbian love affair that blooms there, and the growing pressure to enter a conventional marriage with Valentine. The book pushes this storyline as its core plot point, however it is not the majority of the book given the various interweaving narratives. Meanwhile Valentine Ross goes through one of the most intense character arcs I have ever encountered, as I had a lot of sympathy for him in the beginning but as the story progressed felt such revulsion I actually struggled to get through his pages and it dampened the compelling Jane storyline.
While I found the book captivating and think it is the best example of parallel narrative I have ever read. I didn’t find any section a particular slog, however I wonder if the book would miss the Borneo sections if removed.
Overall, a slow but pleasant read. An engaging start but I did find the final sections a bit of a slog, except for the interlude in Ireland. Generally deft storytelling, with an interesting cast of characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Sexism, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Racism, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Suicide
booksnake386's review against another edition
The writing style felt too contrived and made the story less enjoyable
dreadpiraterudis's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jen_smash's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
2.5
Katie McGrath does a great job for the audiobook. Like most who have reviewed the Borneo storyline was not my favorite. It seemed like it was going somewhere but for me I was literally rolling my eyes anytime we focused on it.
cowiealexandra's review against another edition
3.0
Absolutely only bought this because the audiobook is narrated by Katie McGrath. A nice story, if a bit too long, drags at times but overall enjoyable!
themermaddie's review against another edition
4.0
i finally get the regency appeal because this book made me feel like a gossiping housewife and i loved it. i thought the writing was lovely, the depiction of jane and her comphet was very accurate, julietta (while a bit irksome at first) grew on me eventually, william was such a wholesome dad, and i really liked the imagery of emeline's golem. stan ashton for clear skin. this was the (eventual) polyamory rep i wasn't expecting but loved anyway (sorta).
i picked this up bc i heard the audiobook was narrated by katie mcgrath (<3) who did not disappoint.
i took a star off bc i found the borneo story difficult to follow and thus much less engaging, and it felt very disjointed at times bc i didn't feel like the two stories intertwined enough to make it worth telling both in the same novel. julietta and jane were very insta love, which wasn't exactly jarring, i think i just would've liked a little more reason for them to have fallen in love than just julietta liking jane's height and jane liking julietta's beauty.
i also thought that Ross's personality switched up very abruptly and that it felt quite out of character. sure he was kind of annoying and pathetic beforehand but murderously violent? i thought the build up to it could've been done better.
i picked this up bc i heard the audiobook was narrated by katie mcgrath (<3) who did not disappoint.
i took a star off bc i found the borneo story difficult to follow and thus much less engaging, and it felt very disjointed at times bc i didn't feel like the two stories intertwined enough to make it worth telling both in the same novel. julietta and jane were very insta love, which wasn't exactly jarring, i think i just would've liked a little more reason for them to have fallen in love than just julietta liking jane's height and jane liking julietta's beauty.
i also thought that Ross's personality switched up very abruptly and that it felt quite out of character. sure he was kind of annoying and pathetic beforehand but murderously violent? i thought the build up to it could've been done better.
alyssarider's review against another edition
1.0
loml katie mcgrath does a great job but this book sucks