Helpful Score: 1
After reading about this book on another site, I couldn't wait to read it and I wasn't disappointed. Ms. Furnivall weaves an intriguing story of an Englishwoman married to a rubber plantation owner in Malaya in late 1941.
You know from the very first sentence this will be an unusual story: "It was not the first time Connie had killed someone. But today there were witnesses."
The author grabs you from that very first sentence and pulls you into a foreign world of class and race, intrigue and danger, surprises and discovery. She has written a mesmerizing tale that has stayed with me for days afterward. In fact, I'm going to re-read it---it's just that good!
You know from the very first sentence this will be an unusual story: "It was not the first time Connie had killed someone. But today there were witnesses."
The author grabs you from that very first sentence and pulls you into a foreign world of class and race, intrigue and danger, surprises and discovery. She has written a mesmerizing tale that has stayed with me for days afterward. In fact, I'm going to re-read it---it's just that good!
Helpful Score: 1
Furnivall hits the ground running and doesn't let up. I did not want to put this book down and searched to see which of her books have slipped by me. The ending may be a bit far fetched, but the point of her stories is to entertain and she did a good job with this one.
Wonderful story. I couldn't put it down. Set in WWII on Malaya, the story crosses over with several stories all combining into one at a crucial point in the book.
Excellent book!
Excellent book!
As someone who absolutely adored Kate Furnivall's THE JEWEL OF ST. PETERSBURG, it pains me to say I was terribly disappointed in THE WHITE PEARL.
Opening line:"It was not the first time Connie had killed someone, but today there were witnesses."
How can we go downhill from there? I'll tell you. The remarkably dense main character, Connie Hadley, was unfortunately not very likable. Ditto for the person she killed and the secondary characters who subsequently enter her life...I never connected with a single one of them, which made me very apathetic to the dynamics of their relationships and where they would lead.
I also found the setting so unpleasant, even for commercial storytelling. I'm not sure what it's like today, but Malaya in 1941 sounds absolutely dreadful and by the 200-page mark when they finally hop the yacht to flee? I was hopelessly disengaged. From there it was easily skimmable to the end.
I'm still a faithful fan of the author so I hope the next book is miles better. For this one? C-
Opening line:"It was not the first time Connie had killed someone, but today there were witnesses."
How can we go downhill from there? I'll tell you. The remarkably dense main character, Connie Hadley, was unfortunately not very likable. Ditto for the person she killed and the secondary characters who subsequently enter her life...I never connected with a single one of them, which made me very apathetic to the dynamics of their relationships and where they would lead.
I also found the setting so unpleasant, even for commercial storytelling. I'm not sure what it's like today, but Malaya in 1941 sounds absolutely dreadful and by the 200-page mark when they finally hop the yacht to flee? I was hopelessly disengaged. From there it was easily skimmable to the end.
I'm still a faithful fan of the author so I hope the next book is miles better. For this one? C-
