Search This Blog

Love reading challenges? Check out my other blog:

2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

My Progress:


9 / 30 books. 30% done!

2023 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (5)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (2)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (4)
- North Carolina (3)
- North Dakota
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- Australia (3)
- Canada (6)
- England (12)
- France (1)
- Ireland (2)
- Scotland (1)
- South Korea (1)
- The Netherlands (1)
-Vietnam (1)

My Progress:


26 / 51 states. 51% done!

2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


19 / 25 books. 76% done!

2023 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


32 / 50 books. 64% done!

Booklist Queen's 2023 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


36 / 52 books. 69% done!

2023 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


41 / 52 books. 79% done!

2023 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


27 / 40 books. 68% done!

2023 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


15 / 40 books. 38% done!

2023 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


9 / 25 books. 36% done!

2023 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

Book Bingo Reading Challenge


19 / 25 books. 76% done!

2023 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


57 / 109 books. 52% done!

Children's Book Reading Challenge...For Adults!

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Despite Lovely Prose, Hawthorne Historical a Long, Dull Read

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Crippling headaches, brought on by her painting, keep Sophia Peabody out of society.  Although she remains isolated because of her health, her artwork and lively journals attract attention from the outside world.  Most especially from a shy, reclusive writer named Nathaniel Hawthorne.  The couple fall quickly in love.  Although Sophia pines for marriage, Nathaniel hesitates because of financial concerns.  Finally, the two wed, joining their lives and artistic temperaments.  It's a coupling beset by the usual challenges, not the least of which is trying to balance their creative lives with the requirements of home and family.  Through the trials, their love endures, sustaining them both ...

It's difficult to describe The House of Hawthorne, a fictional imagining of a real-life marriage .  Indeed, the story, written by Erika Robuck, runs very thin on plot, even thinner on action.  While the book's quiet prose is quite lovely, poetic in many places, the narrative drags, making for a long, often dull read.  The fact that I found Sophia whiny and annoying didn't help matters.  The House of Hawthorne has many beautiful passages, as well as some intriguing thoughts on how art and love mingle—or don't—but, overall, the book put me to sleep.  I finished it, but it felt more like a feat of endurance than enjoyment.   

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  You?)

Grade:


If this were a movie, it would be rated:


for sexual innuendo and content

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of The House of Hawthorne from the generous folks at Penguin.  Thank you!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive