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A review by deecreatenola
The House on Coliseum Street by Shirley Ann Grau
3.0
I was encouraged to read this by a writing workshop leader for all the sentient details the author includes. I did enjoy that. You can feel, see, smell, and taste the settings. Living in New Orleans, I knew the places described and it was very real and intimate.
As a reader, I liked the first half to three quarters of the book, although the main character seems a bit distant from the reader (likely by design). I didn't necessarily like her or empathize with her, but I enjoyed her story.
Towards the end, the story takes an unexpected path, something that definitely makes it "literary fiction" rather than romance or just plain fiction. I get that, but that doesn't mean it was satisfying to me. I didn't want everything tied in a bow or neatly finished, but I also wasn't comfortable with where it went.
I did enjoy the disfunctionality of the family. That felt very real.
As a reader, I liked the first half to three quarters of the book, although the main character seems a bit distant from the reader (likely by design). I didn't necessarily like her or empathize with her, but I enjoyed her story.
Towards the end, the story takes an unexpected path, something that definitely makes it "literary fiction" rather than romance or just plain fiction. I get that, but that doesn't mean it was satisfying to me. I didn't want everything tied in a bow or neatly finished, but I also wasn't comfortable with where it went.
I did enjoy the disfunctionality of the family. That felt very real.