I downloaded The Inn at Rose Harbor for my iPad. I didn't care much for this book, and I can't really say why. It was on the New York Times Bestseller List, and I can't really say why about that either.
I didn't find the characters fully developed; they were more one-dimensional. Maybe I'm just picky, but it seemed the author just threw enough of some literary characteristics in the book to appeal to different groups. A little mysticism (talking to the dead and having them talk back), a little religion, a little macho gruffness,
The main character, Jo Marie Rose (really? you need THREE first names? just kidding, I know one of them is her last name, and two first names are standard here in the South), has recently lost her husband and she impulsively goes out and buys a bed-and-breakfast, never having had any experience even remotely associated with owning and operating one. Yet she has time to knit, cook meals for herself and her (two) guests, adopt a dog, schedule a renovation project (or two), meet the locals, bake bread, spar with the local handyman, take copious naps, and talk to her dead husband.
Yes, I realize it's fiction and I'm supposed to ... what's the phrase? ... suspend my disbelief?
I also found a grammatical error when the author said the dog "...laid down in front of the fire..." ARRGGGGHHHH!!!!! How many editors does it take to catch that? I know I'm a boorish grammar snob, but finding an error like that in a book turns me off. Way off.
It's an easy read, but I could have derived as much pleasure from reading the four or five issues of The New Yorker Magazine that I haven't gotten around to yet. Maybe more.
1 comment:
Happy to send you a copy of my book, California Sunset to cheer you up!
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