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A Lost Wife's Tale (2009)

by Marion McGilvary(Favorite Author)

3.19 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0141036230 (ISBN13: 9780141036236)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Penguin Books

review 1: I liked this book for the most part. It was interesting to try to find out what Edith was running from. The answer was not was I was expecting. She is definitely a bit of an odd character. My biggest complaint about this book is the ending. Very unsatisfying. It just sort of stopped. It would have been nice to know if Edith ever stopped running and settled someplace. But I guess the ending is telling us that the answer to that question is "no." I loved the author's writing style. Her descriptive similes were very creative and often made me laugh. I would definitely read another book by her.
review 2: Pull up a chair, this may take awhile (and there will be spoilers)...If you are not currently on nerve medication, it may be a good idea to call for a prescription... more before reading this book.While browsing through a bargain bin of books, I was immediately intrigued by both the cover and the synopsis on the back of "A Lost Wife's Tale", so I bought it. I began reading with hopeful anticipation of what this "lost wife's tale" would be and I was instantly drawn in to the story. The writing at times was exquisitely done...metaphors and word pictures that had me underlining and circling text like crazy. But, it got a bit tiresome wading through so much first person narration with very little dialogue. The author was constantly dropping clues (and f-bombs) as to a dark, hidden past of this "Edith" and I was reading, excited--with bated breath...waiting and waiting...literally reading faster and faster to see what in the world could this girl have possibly done...KGB?? CIA?? MURDER?? I'd read over 100 pages, halfway through and on and on it goes--another mysterious clue, another f-bomb...my nerves are shot and still NOTHING!I cannot believe the speed at which I am reading this teeny font begging Edith/Agnes: "TELL ME WHAT YOU DID ALREADY!!!". No family contact for years, "scandal", hiding out, lies upon lies to her kind, new lover/employer and I can feel it coming in the storyline, shoulders to my ears with tension and then I read it, the sentence I'd waited for for 893 paragraphs: WHAT?! A BABY?! YOU GAVE UP A BABY?! YOU'RE NOT JASON FREAKIN' BOURNE?!! YOU WEREN'T STAGING A COUP IN SCOTLAND?! Deflated, I carried on hoping I could make it through the disjointed flashbacks and transitions to present day without completely depleting my prozac bottle. Yes, the terrible event that led up to this "shocking" admission was tough but it in NO WAY merited the exhaustive build-up I had just experienced.So I find myself in a bit of a rating-quandry. Clearly, I was compelled enough to turn every page and get to the bottom of the psychotic actions of Edith...stylistically, the writing had parts I absolutely loved. I never wanted to put the book down--so why 2 stars?! One star for every $1.25 I spent on this book! Just kidding.Actually, because with so much secrecy, so much anticipation, I needed a blow-me-away event that I could've said "oh my heckadoodle!! no wonder she lied for years, no wonder she felt as if someone were looking over her shoulder all the time!!" And that just didn't happen.But, that's ok. That's the beauty of stories. Some are bitter. Some are sweet.NOTE: no pills were actually abused or harmed during the reading of this novel or writing of this review. drug references were for entertainment purposes only. thank you. less

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