Scan barcode
mikaylaslibrary's review against another edition
3.0
The writing is beautiful. Everything else fell flat for me.
I think that the idea was great. Clamity Jane is one of those "hidden figures" of history, and not much can be accurately sourced back to her. However, the way that this novel was written did not do the idea justice. The chapters were not chronologically written, which made it very confusing to flip back and forth to try and find what happened.
What is it with authors not using quotation marks for dialogue? I skimmed through this multiple chapters because I couldn't tell who was talking or what was supposed to be dialogue.
Also, the use of the N-word really turned me off. I don't think that in this day and age, white authors should be allowed to use it, even if they are writing characters who would use it.
I think that the idea was great. Clamity Jane is one of those "hidden figures" of history, and not much can be accurately sourced back to her. However, the way that this novel was written did not do the idea justice. The chapters were not chronologically written, which made it very confusing to flip back and forth to try and find what happened.
What is it with authors not using quotation marks for dialogue? I skimmed through this multiple chapters because I couldn't tell who was talking or what was supposed to be dialogue.
Also, the use of the N-word really turned me off. I don't think that in this day and age, white authors should be allowed to use it, even if they are writing characters who would use it.
johannalm's review against another edition
2.0
In Calamity's Wake, Natalee Caple
This just doesn't work. The author tried to recreate the life of Calamity Jane through her daughter's quest to find her, but she really failed to pull the story together. Instead, it is a story of all the things that were thought about Jane, just kind of lumped together and revealed during the travels of the daughter she gave away at birth. The reader doesn't really know when the story takes place or how old the main character, the daughter, is when she sets out to find her mother. The author also inserts some magic realism into the story, but that also just doesn't work. Next.
This just doesn't work. The author tried to recreate the life of Calamity Jane through her daughter's quest to find her, but she really failed to pull the story together. Instead, it is a story of all the things that were thought about Jane, just kind of lumped together and revealed during the travels of the daughter she gave away at birth. The reader doesn't really know when the story takes place or how old the main character, the daughter, is when she sets out to find her mother. The author also inserts some magic realism into the story, but that also just doesn't work. Next.
christy_1980's review against another edition
2.0
It's not very often but every once in a while a book comes along that truly disappoints. Unfortunately, this was that book. It was a slow go at the start but I stuck it out hoping that eventually it would improve. I enjoyed reading about Miette and her mother, Martha, aka Calamity Jane, as they lived out their adventures as independent narrators. What I didn't enjoy was how neither of the characters seemed to evolve throughout the book and honestly, there really wasn't anything going on; this novel seemed completely void of any kind of plot. I thought for sure, at the end, when Miette and Martha finally crossed paths that that would have made the book all worth it. Wrong again. Nothing was resolved...the ending was just as much of a disappointment as the rest of the book. I give it 2 stars purely for the lovely prose.
jooniperd's review
3.0
okay, so i liked the novel... but i didn't love it. i had trouble connecting emotionally to the characters and story, which proved troubling because it is an emotional journey miette (the main character) is undertaking in the search for her mother (calamity jane). caple is clearly gifted with language, and at moments her experience and talent as a poet were quite evident. again, though, my appreciation was kept on the surface and detached - i really had hoped this to be a story that would suck me right in. each chapter, told from alternating perspectives, felt like a little vignette, but the flow didn't quite come together for me on the whole. the idea for this novel is hugely interesting, and the characters were creative. i just wish i felt more invested, and had come away loving the book, instead of just liking it. (if that makes sense?)
pre-read update, 31 july 13:
Natalee Caple: "In Calamity’s Wake became the book I wrote because I couldn’t save my cousin Heather’s life. So I wrote her into fiction, hoping that my daughter and my son would one day encounter her there and see her the way I needed her to be seen, as heroic and immortal."
i just read this, over on 49th shelf, and had a little cry.
i have this book scheduled for reading very soon and this piece has made the book more important for caple's personal and emotional reasons for writing the novel.
thank you, natalee!!
pre-read update, 31 july 13:
Natalee Caple: "In Calamity’s Wake became the book I wrote because I couldn’t save my cousin Heather’s life. So I wrote her into fiction, hoping that my daughter and my son would one day encounter her there and see her the way I needed her to be seen, as heroic and immortal."
i just read this, over on 49th shelf, and had a little cry.
i have this book scheduled for reading very soon and this piece has made the book more important for caple's personal and emotional reasons for writing the novel.
thank you, natalee!!
More...