Shop Ireland

Falling Angels by: Tracy Chevalier

More Product Details...

Review Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next »

Click here to add a review!

Average rating -

Rating: - highgate cemetery

Highgate Cemetery was the setting just after Queen Victoria's death. The book covered relationships between two families of not quite, but almost the same class; their relationships with their servants and the cemetery workers; suffragette movement and attitudes to sex. It was written from the first person's perspective and moved from person to person. Easy to read.

Rating: - enjoyable, but not gripping....

I was left a little dissatisfied at the end of this book, not really sure why. It is a very evocative glimpse into the rituals of society at the start of the Edwardian era. The book begins with the death of Queen Victoria. The plot centres around Highgate Cemetery, and the rituals of mourning, which sounds morbid, and indeed much of the book is to do with the way we deal with death.

The book is divided into very short chapters, each narrated by a different character. This takes a while to get into, but you get used to it, and it moves the plot along fairly well.

I didn't find the portrayal of the two girls as 5-year olds convincing in any way, but as they grow older, those characters do become more believable. There are some interesting contrasts drawn between the lives of the rich and the poor in those days, for example when Kitty Coleman simply pays her servants to sew the suffragette banners she has promised to make. I found the suffragette part a bit tedious, especially the long drawn out description of the march.

Definitely a good book to keep you entertained for a couple of cold winter days!

Rating: - A fantastic historical read

Strangely, this is my second attempt at reading this book. The first time round I couldn't get into it, yet the second time I loved it and rated it 5 stars. I suppose I just needed to be in the right mood for it.

This is the story, primarily, of Maude Coleman and Lavinia Waterhouse, two young girls who meet at a Victorian cemetery in London in 1901, around the time of the death of Queen Victoria. They become friends and their families become acquainted. The story follows their lives until 1910, the year that King Edward VII died, during which both families suffer tragedies. The women's suffrage movement plays a large part in the book, and the story is an excellent piece of historical writing. Tracy Chevalier writes from numerous different points of view and at no time was I confused as to who was narrating, which is a testament to her fine writing style.

I think this is now one of my favourite Tracy Chevalier books, and one which I would recommend to anybody who enjoys historical novels. The fact that this is a relatively recent period in history, and a time of much change and progress for women, was very appealing to me, as were the descriptions of the cemetery and mourning styles. A fantastic read.

Rating: - Social history transformed into a good read

The novel is set at the beginning of the Edwardian times and revolves around two families from differing social 'clases'. A friendship develops between the two older children and their meetings in the cemetry where the families have burial plots. The attitude towards death and mourning at the time are woven into the story. The reader is inevitably drawn to make comparisions between children then and their contempories now. The work of the early suffragettes and a variety of altogether believable characters embelish this facinating book. The unusually subject matter has been really well researched and developed into a compelling story which sustains interest to the end.

Rating: - Clever title

This is the third novel by Tracy Chevalier that I have read and I have found them all utterly compelling and so different. I loved the choice of title which I felt was a clever use of symbolism, with angels falling throughout the book! The opening chapter may well surprise you about those staid Victorians.
Falling Angels is about the friendship of two little girls Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman.
Covering the time from when they first met in the local graveyard, where their family plots are next door to each other. It is 1901 and everyone is in mourning for the death of Queen Victoria. We follow the girls growing up through changing times for the next nine years. The book is narrated by just about every character in the book, so the story comes together seen through the eyes of not only the two protagonists but their families, household staff and two members of the graveyard staff that play important roles in the plot. This structure gave the effect of feeling very much part of the plot oneself as though all the characters were speaking to you personally, which very cleverly makes you feel you are there! Drawn into the seemingly mundane lives of the Waterhouse and Coleman families the drama builds as Maude's mother becomes involved with the suffragette movement and a series of tragedies occur.
I recommend this novel as an enjoyable read written from an interesting angle about a fascinating period in British history.

Review Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next »