When Tito Loved Clara is another ARC from Algonquin Books. It is the story of an immigrant family from Santo Domingo. Clara Lugo has a difficult childhood, but manages to pursue her dreams in several ways.
She is a librarian with a young son, but she desperately wants another child. Her husband, however, has lost his job and is in a difficult place, emotionally and financially. Clara's sister is a self-involved woman who chooses the wrong men and has too little concern for her sixteen-year-old daughter.
As a story about an immigrant neighborhood and community, the novel rings true. However, the plot and the pacing make it a little hard to maintain genuine interest.
I really wanted to love this novel, but that didn't happen. While the characters had, for the most part, a sense of reality, they didn't truly pull me in to their lives. In some ways, it felt like reading a documentary and in some ways like watching a soap opera.
It took me about a week to get around to reading the last five pages...and who stops at that point? When I did finish, I had no feeling of closure.
Michaud's writing flows well, yet I was never able to lose myself in the narrative.
Fiction. Contemporary Fiction. 2011. 338 pages.
She is a librarian with a young son, but she desperately wants another child. Her husband, however, has lost his job and is in a difficult place, emotionally and financially. Clara's sister is a self-involved woman who chooses the wrong men and has too little concern for her sixteen-year-old daughter.
As a story about an immigrant neighborhood and community, the novel rings true. However, the plot and the pacing make it a little hard to maintain genuine interest.
I really wanted to love this novel, but that didn't happen. While the characters had, for the most part, a sense of reality, they didn't truly pull me in to their lives. In some ways, it felt like reading a documentary and in some ways like watching a soap opera.
It took me about a week to get around to reading the last five pages...and who stops at that point? When I did finish, I had no feeling of closure.
Michaud's writing flows well, yet I was never able to lose myself in the narrative.
Fiction. Contemporary Fiction. 2011. 338 pages.
It is SO frustrating when you hope to love a book only to find out that you cannot connect with the narration or the characters. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteChristina - It is a disappointing to want to become deeply involved with the lives of characters only to discover that it isn't going to happen. Ah, well, this is only my view of the book, others may love it!
ReplyDelete