A review by pepperpots
Rice Paper Diaries, the PB by Francesca Rhydderch

2.0

I read this book because it was selected by my local book club. I don’t think I would have chosen to read it otherwise. Admittedly, the book wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The content was actually pretty interesting. What was disappointing, however, was that the author failed to develop the story. I realise that it is based on the experiences of her great aunt, which perhaps influenced the structure of the book, but the book would have been more enjoyable if it had been fleshed out. For example, it would have been nice to have a little background on the conflict and the links between the different sections (divided up according to the main characters) could have been much stronger. In fact, I am not sure there were any links. The events in each section follow on from the ones before it but the author fails to provide any linking paragraphs to make up for the time gap. Also, we are told snippets of information, such as the state of the relationship between Elsa and Tommy, but it is not expanded on at all. Having a number of chapters told from the perspective of a certain character isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if it’s done well. In the book, however, it left me with a few unanswered questions. Each section provides only a brief snapshot of what life was like before the author moves on. And reading the chapters that are told from the point of view of Mari seem unnecessary. As I was reading them I wondered why they were included. If it was to show the difficulty of returning to normal life in Wales after the war then the author did a poor job.

I am giving the book 2 stars simply because the content was enjoyable, even if the potential of the book fell short of what it could have been.