"Through Glass Eyes" is the
second book in the trilogy "Yorkshire Grit" by Margaret Muir. (Click here for my first review.)
I liked the first one ("Sea Dust") a lot, but I loved "Through Glass Eyes" - maybe because there was more "Yorkshire" in it? That, too, but I think it was more because of the story spanning a longer time (25 years from 1895 to 1920) and went into more detail about the family members and friends of the main character, making some of them "main" characters in their own right.
I liked the first one ("Sea Dust") a lot, but I loved "Through Glass Eyes" - maybe because there was more "Yorkshire" in it? That, too, but I think it was more because of the story spanning a longer time (25 years from 1895 to 1920) and went into more detail about the family members and friends of the main character, making some of them "main" characters in their own right.
By providing more detail about
the people and accompanying them for a longer period made for a very
good pace of the story, and a feeling as if the reader "knew" the people
and places involved. There is both a sense of continuity and of change
(some rather dramatic) to the book; maybe you think I'm contradicting
myself here but that is the impression I had.
We first meet Lucy Oldfield
when she is a maid at a big house. Coming into the possession of a very
expensive doll, this doll stays with her for the next 25 years - being
witness to all the changes, the good and bad times Lucy goes through.
The way the doll is always
somehow part of Lucy's life is very cleverly written into the story. I
also liked how realistic everything that happened was - no "happily ever
after", but real things that happen(ed) to real people, such as
friendship and love, loss and grief, crime and war, work and travel.
Just like with "Sea Dust", the
reader can not guess from the start what the outcome will be, just like
real life keeps throwing surprises at us - some pleasant ones, some
less so.
I highly recommend "Through
Glass Eyes". If you want to know more, you can read Margaret Muir's own
blog entry about the book here.
The list gets longer......!
ReplyDeleteSorry... :-)
DeleteI was able to get this for my kindle, not free but very inexpensively. It does sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you did, Kristi! Hopefully you'll like it as much as I did.
DeleteMore time needed to read more books!
ReplyDeleteJust started my first Elena Ferrante novel (have you read her?), book 1 of the Neapolitan Novels, MY BRILLIANT FRIEND. I'd heard a lot about this Italian author who writes under a pseudonym (nobody seems to know who she is, some even saying it's a man!), so wanted to at least give one of the books a go. When I saw Alice Seybold, author of THE LOVELY BONES quote - "Elena Ferrante will blow you away" - I was hooked!!!
Mary -
Apologies - spelt Alice's name incorrectly, should be Sebold.
ReplyDeleteMary -
Hello Mary, thank you for the recommendation! I have not heard of Elena Ferrante before, nor of Alice Sebold.
DeleteAs you say, more time needed to read more books!!
Thanks for the review! It sounds lovely ♥
ReplyDeletesummerdaisycottage.blogspot.com
Thank you, Summer! I'm glad I amanaged to convey how much I liked this book.
DeleteThis is, I believe, your first comment here. Welcome to "my mental library"! I am now going to have a look at your blog.
Thank you for your comment on Through Glass Eyes, I am glad it gave you some pleasurable reading. sorry for delay in replying but I am in UK at the moment to attend Historical Novel Society's conference in Oxford this weekend.
ReplyDeleteThanks again and best regards, MM
Hello MM, and thank you once again for taking the time to read my review and comment!
DeleteI have also finished reading "The Black Thread" and will post my review tomorrow.
Happy conferencing!