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The Orphan Master (2012)

by Jean Zimmerman(Favorite Author)

3.32 of 5 Votes: 2

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Penguin Group

review 1: Wonderfully written, historically fascinating, interesting portrayal of early Manhattan in the Dutch settlement days of the 1640s. Purportedly a mystery laden with historical detail, it was in fact a Horror story. And the horror was deep into a darkness I did not want to know. Yes, I finished, the writing was evocative and compelling. But the darkness was too detailed and the plot! The characters are driven by the evil of men and the pettiness of the "good" women of the colony. Worth reading if you can skim through the soul disturbing confessions of the dark secrets. But well written.
review 2: My husband read this first and really liked it. I agree with the reasons: an amazing historical account of a time and place we both had little knowledge of, and 2 likabl... moree main characters. All that said, in good conscience, I don't think I can recommend it to my friends, or anyone for that matter. I'll give three words why: cannibalism of children. Not a tasteful subject (forgive the pun).On the back cover it states in big letters, A LOVE STORY. The truth is, the lack of solid genre in this book is one of the problems. The story rambles, there are way too many characters, anachronisms (pinkie-promise, room was tossed etc. in the 1600s?), author intrusion (using Dutch words and explaining their meanings), and giving away the mystery killer/cannibal, way too early in the book. It's also pretty gruesome.So, why did I keep reading it? 1) The historical account. This could have been a historical adventure novel without the serial killer mystery, and I would have enjoyed every second of it. 2) My husband did everything he could to persuade me that I was wrong about who the murderer/cannibal was, but I held firm about my convictions. I did have to finish reading it to say, "I told you so." Didn't I? 3) The legend of the witika.I truly hope Jean Zimmerman continues to write and share her talent for historical fiction. Maybe just rein herself in a tad. less

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