Helpful Score: 5
It's an interesting story, but I wouldn't really recommend it for easy reading. It's more of a book club type book, because there could be some great discussions regarding the characters and circumstances. As it was, I read it myself and had no one to try to explain or discuss it with and it wasn't exactly a "fluff" type read, either. The author is Irish, so his sentence structure took a bit of getting used to for me. I can see why the book is highly praised, but it left me with a dissatisfied feeling at the end. Which could have been his intent.
Helpful Score: 4
Beautifully written, but I had trouble sympathizing with the main characters: they seemed to quite simply decide that their circumstances were beyond their control. Lucy had the trappings of a fascinating, intelligent young woman yet her guilt at "losing" her parents was one-dimensional.
Helpful Score: 3
A beautifully written story of the intersection of chance and fate and those who's lives are altered by both. A young Irish girl, nine year old Lucy Gault does not want to leave her beloved family home though her parents feel forced to leave for reasons that are valid. She hopes to convince her parents to stay and makes a fateful decision that changes all their lives forever. A child's impulsive action, like all things cannot be altered after the consequences are understood. So begins the story of their lives "after" the fateful choice, as well as the lives of all who knew them, or knew of them. The pace of the story, carefully told calls to mind simpler times, quiet pleasures, and self imposed isolation. So many themes are dealt with in this story. How does one come to acceptance, forgiveness of others, even of ones self? How does one allay the weight of guilt over unintentional consequences caused by oneself? How does one find a way to love when one believes ones self unworthy of love? Lucy does find her own way, over many years, through devastating disappointment and it is walking by her side, observing her as her two loyal house servants do caring for her, that you come to understand how this is accomplished. A lovely, sad, bitter sweet story that I'm very glad I didn't miss!
Helpful Score: 2
Mr. Trevor is an excellent writer. The message of forgiveness will have you remembering this read for a while.
Helpful Score: 1
Very well written story of a girl whose family is forced to leave their family home. On the eve of their move, the girl runs away in hopes of getting her family to stay. Her disappearance has tragic consequences.
Helpful Score: 1
Although I suppose I could read just about anything by William Trevor and enjoy the lovely descriptions of the Irish countryside, the windswept coast, and the people who live in the big houses and little villages, I have to say that this novel was a bit of a disappointment because the story itself just didnt ring true. As usually happens when I read one of Trevors novels I kept wanting to flip ahead and find out what was going to happen and in this case, I was curious about what would happen to 8 year old Lucy Gault in the violent summer of 1921 after her protestant parents had made the hasty decision to flee their country home because of what the IRA was doing to other Anglo-Irish landowners in the area. But as the story unraveled I couldnt help feeling like I was being drawn into an impossible situationsomething so farfetched that it simply wouldnt have happened in real life. Or if it did, the people involved would have certainly made different decisions which of course would have changed the course of the story. In fact, you might say that this novel is actually about the decisions people make and the effect those decisions have on the way their lives and the lives of those around them. It's also a disquieting commentary on how quickly lives can be changed forever simply because of chance encounters and accidental incidents that result in tragic consequences.
This book was well written; however, it was boring. The story idea was a good one, but it dragged on even though it was only 228 pages. If you like English/Irish literature you might want to read it, but there are more exciting varieties.
For a relatively short book (under 250 pages), this was surprisingly epic in its scope. It covers nearly the entire life of Lucy Gault - and what a tragic life! Accidentally abandoned at the age of seven, Lucy's life never becomes anything more than a life of quiet grief and almost desperation. Well-written, the overwhelming sadness of the book as a whole made it a rather depressing read. And despite the book's opening date (oddly enough, June 21st), I think this is more of the type of book for winter nights, rather than hot summer evenings. From its premise, I thought that the book would focus more on Lucy's childhood, but the vast majority dealt with the extended aftermath of the accident that defined her life, particularly during the summer of her 21st year. Though not an enjoyable read, per se, it definitely kept me turning pages and just had me yearning for something - anything - good to happen to Lucy.
Enjoyed this quirky novel. Definitely a unique story line.
Pretty good book to read. Dust cover is missing, but book is in great condition.
