No Frigate

A Disappointment

After all the accolades that A Short History of Women received, I was thrilled when I got my reserve copy at the library.  But then I started reading . . . And the idea that seemed so compelling -- an inter-generational story of women beginning with a nineteenth-century suffragette -- just didn't translate well to the page.  The characters that sounded fascinating when described in reviews were dry ciphers, and because of the immense degree of separation between the characters, there was not much of a plot.  The characters did warm up as the novel progressed, but I never felt really vested in any of them.

 

A Short History of Women: A Novel

Kate Walbert

The Northern Clemency

Between the job and the baby, I've been busy, and "The Northern Clemency" is relatively long, so I'm not that ashamed that it took me a while to finish it.  Excuses aside, though, I think the reason the novel was slow going wasn't entirely related to my lack of sleep or time.  This Booker Prize nominee was blurbed as being like "The Corrections" and "The Emperor's Children," but its plot lacked the momentum that kept me enthralled by both of those novels.  Moreover, I found one of the central events entirely lacking in credibility.  In considering this event, I shook my head at the antics of the female character and thought, "This was obviously written by a man, because a woman would never really do that."

That said, there are certainly portions of "The Northern Clemency" that are interesting and true, and some of the characters make choices that are unexpected, but in a believeable way (unlike the mystery event I'm referring to).  I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone besides the most committed Anglophile, though.

 

The Northern Clemency

Philip Hensher