Vida Winters may be a famous novelist, but the reclusive author has managed to keep her personal history a secret by telling various eccentric stories of her childhood. When biographer Margaret Lea receives a letter from Ms. Winters asking her to write her life story, Margaret travels to Ms. Winters’s home to be the first person to finally hear the tragic tale of Ms. Winters’s youth.
This book was my book club’s latest pick. I’ve been sitting here, trying to think of how I felt about the book. On the one hand, I really liked the first half, but then there was a sort of mystery reveal which left me thinking “Huh?”.
The writing in this book was beautiful. Margaret Lea is a bibliophile who grew up in the shadow of her father’s bookstore and the way the author described Margaret’s thoughts about books was incredible. There were so many lines that I wanted to highlight, which is odd because I never want to highlight sentences in books.
There’s no reference as to the time period in which the book is set. When Margaret needs to communicate with people, she sends them a letter. A snowstorm cuts off the phone line to Ms. Winters’s home. There is very much a gothic feel to the book, including two large manor homes – the home Ms. Winters grew up in and the home she lives in now. The book, very much, has a Jane Eyre feel to it.
It is essentially a story within a story and I found Ms. Winters’s story to be a little too implausible. In my opinion, the reveal did not make sense at all and the author didn’t do enough to set it up. Still, I continued to read mainly because I wanted to finish for book club.
If you are looking to read a book about books and book lovers but you also maybe want to read some gothic mystery, this one might be for you.
To check out other reviews, find this book on goodreads or amazon. Please note, all links are affiliate which gives a small portion of profit to Rainy Days and Clichés. Thank you so much for your continuous kindness!
Leave a Reply