My kingdom for a decent mystery/horror novel... I'm about to give up and return to reading the Classics, as the last half-dozen modern novels I've read have been an utter waste of time. Some of their plots have had potential, but they just never turned out to be anything worthwhile.
This one falls along those lines, too, although it is admittedly far more well-written than the last several novels I've read recently, so at least that aspect of it was enjoyable. I have to admit, however, that that's about all I can say for it. I actually went back and revised my rating, as this was one the most boring books I've ever read in my life, so I just couldn't muster anything better. It was just a chore to read. There's never any resolution, the crime to this day is never solved, and isn't not enjoyable sufficient to make up for it.
Again, this novel, which had decent reviews, had great promise, but it just never reached its potential. It's based on a sort-of true story, although the author has taken significant poetic license in the book. Twenty-year-old Bertha Lane Mellish was an actual person, whose disappearance from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1897 became the subject of a late-nineteenth-century media juggernaut, albeit a short-lived one.
Her still-unsolved case gave rise to all sorts of salacious speculation, with some claiming that the quiet but dedicated student had either been murdered, or had committed suicide, or had been seduced and then fled with her lover upon falling pregnant... there was seemingly no end to the baseless accusations and wild theories which were promulgated about Bertha in the newspapers of the day, including the New York Times. Tabloid yellow journalism is certainly not a recent phenomenon.
Named for the town of Killingly, Connecticut, most of the novel focuses on the interplay between the characters rather than the case surrounding Bertha's disappearance, which was part of the reason I didn't really care for it. It's billed as a "crime novel," but it really wasn't, so there was some disappointment in the way in which it was mischaracterized.
The primary character is Agnes Sullivan, Bertha's best friend, who aspires to become a doctor, but who conceals from her fellows her background and origins, including her Catholic religion. In contrast to wealthy Bertha, Agnes attends Mount Holyoke on scholarship, having hailed from impoverished, inner-city Boston.
Other major figures are Bertha's father, sister Florence, Dr. Hammond, the family's physician, and the private investigator hired by the Mellish family to discover what befell Bertha. Because Agnes is uncharacteristically reserved following her friend's disappearance, many of her fellows come to suspect that she may be somehow involved in Bertha's disappearance.
Some have labeled this a feminist novel, a point I can somewhat concede, but, frustratingly, it promulgates more stereotypes than it speaks to empowerment. Yes, women in academia at the turn of the century were generally considered somewhat radical, which is a great premise on which to weave a narrative, but the way in which it was done in this particular offering was just uncreative.
It is true, however, that even the college's administration asserted that the primary purpose of university for women was to churn out capable wives and mothers, as well as to provide a venue for finding a good (that is, wealthy and powerful) husband with prospects. However, the stereotypical women herein are portrayed as immature, catty, bickering schemers reminiscent of middle-school mean girls, almost all of whom harbor some covert, ulterior motive, which just rubbed me the wrong way. The men are also generally one-dimensional, most of whom are characterized as demeaning, misogynistic tyrants, who are yet rendered powerless in the face of the feminine mystique around them.
Perhaps its greatest sin, to me, was that it was just thoroughly boring, but that is perhaps because I'm not a fan of novels whose primary focus is the relationships between the characters rather than the events which tell a good story. I'm not into gore and violence for their own sake, but there has to be SOME action. And, of course, as with almost all the modern novels I've read recently, there has to be that "rainbow" element to it, which just irks me, because it's nothing than pandering afterthought. I'm starting to think that this is now some kind of requirement to get a book published these days.
The plot moves at an absolute snail's pace, and, aside from a few twists and turns, really never gets more interesting, to the degree that I had to read it in sections to get through it. If you're into this type of novel, it might be passable, but it just didn't hit the mark for me despite its initial potential.
This one falls along those lines, too, although it is admittedly far more well-written than the last several novels I've read recently, so at least that aspect of it was enjoyable. I have to admit, however, that that's about all I can say for it. I actually went back and revised my rating, as this was one the most boring books I've ever read in my life, so I just couldn't muster anything better. It was just a chore to read. There's never any resolution, the crime to this day is never solved, and isn't not enjoyable sufficient to make up for it.
Again, this novel, which had decent reviews, had great promise, but it just never reached its potential. It's based on a sort-of true story, although the author has taken significant poetic license in the book. Twenty-year-old Bertha Lane Mellish was an actual person, whose disappearance from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1897 became the subject of a late-nineteenth-century media juggernaut, albeit a short-lived one.
Her still-unsolved case gave rise to all sorts of salacious speculation, with some claiming that the quiet but dedicated student had either been murdered, or had committed suicide, or had been seduced and then fled with her lover upon falling pregnant... there was seemingly no end to the baseless accusations and wild theories which were promulgated about Bertha in the newspapers of the day, including the New York Times. Tabloid yellow journalism is certainly not a recent phenomenon.
Named for the town of Killingly, Connecticut, most of the novel focuses on the interplay between the characters rather than the case surrounding Bertha's disappearance, which was part of the reason I didn't really care for it. It's billed as a "crime novel," but it really wasn't, so there was some disappointment in the way in which it was mischaracterized.
The primary character is Agnes Sullivan, Bertha's best friend, who aspires to become a doctor, but who conceals from her fellows her background and origins, including her Catholic religion. In contrast to wealthy Bertha, Agnes attends Mount Holyoke on scholarship, having hailed from impoverished, inner-city Boston.
Other major figures are Bertha's father, sister Florence, Dr. Hammond, the family's physician, and the private investigator hired by the Mellish family to discover what befell Bertha. Because Agnes is uncharacteristically reserved following her friend's disappearance, many of her fellows come to suspect that she may be somehow involved in Bertha's disappearance.
Some have labeled this a feminist novel, a point I can somewhat concede, but, frustratingly, it promulgates more stereotypes than it speaks to empowerment. Yes, women in academia at the turn of the century were generally considered somewhat radical, which is a great premise on which to weave a narrative, but the way in which it was done in this particular offering was just uncreative.
It is true, however, that even the college's administration asserted that the primary purpose of university for women was to churn out capable wives and mothers, as well as to provide a venue for finding a good (that is, wealthy and powerful) husband with prospects. However, the stereotypical women herein are portrayed as immature, catty, bickering schemers reminiscent of middle-school mean girls, almost all of whom harbor some covert, ulterior motive, which just rubbed me the wrong way. The men are also generally one-dimensional, most of whom are characterized as demeaning, misogynistic tyrants, who are yet rendered powerless in the face of the feminine mystique around them.
Perhaps its greatest sin, to me, was that it was just thoroughly boring, but that is perhaps because I'm not a fan of novels whose primary focus is the relationships between the characters rather than the events which tell a good story. I'm not into gore and violence for their own sake, but there has to be SOME action. And, of course, as with almost all the modern novels I've read recently, there has to be that "rainbow" element to it, which just irks me, because it's nothing than pandering afterthought. I'm starting to think that this is now some kind of requirement to get a book published these days.
The plot moves at an absolute snail's pace, and, aside from a few twists and turns, really never gets more interesting, to the degree that I had to read it in sections to get through it. If you're into this type of novel, it might be passable, but it just didn't hit the mark for me despite its initial potential.
