Emily > Recent Status Updates

Beautifully lyrical and compellingly written. Unfortunately, the copy editor really dropped the ball.

I want to be Mary Beard when I grow up. She has an unparalleled instinct for explaining why the past is relevant and making it accessibly, timelessly human.

I made the classic mistake of judging a book by its cover (and also title), so my expectations going into this were quite low. But I've been pleasantly surprised by the writing and characters. It's pretty well researched (even if I don't always agree with the author's interpretations/chosen version of historical events).

Normally, writing an update 17 pages in would be ludicrous. But only 17 pages in, I'm not sure I've ever read anything about writing that makes more sense or is more relatable. It's genuinely exciting to read. If you write at all, read this book.

Such spectacular prose. White folds in history and myth so creatively and effortlessly!

The start was so promising, but it hasn't quite lived up to it. It's gritty, but too often in the wrong way.

The detail of daily life is superb. The research regarding the overall situation is pretty shoddy and biased. I'm not getting the sense that that's a plot device, unfortunately, but then this book predates some of the most important famine research. The prose is often lyrical, the dialect effective, many of the characters interesting, but it's just not quite as good as I'd hoped.

I prefer Fellowes as a screenwriter. There's some pretty prose, and the research is impeccable, but OH so much exposition, much of it quite unnecessary because the dialogue is clear.