I was seduced by the false advertising of Barbara Kingsolver's good review of September 26 before I read the September 29 review that matches my judgment. Maslin I put off till today when I finally slogged through the last third of the novel.
Yes, Janet Maslin, I too grew weary of all those lists, the main character's visits to her "locked closet," the predictability and implausibility of an increasingly potboiler plot, and the final history-lesson scene. Where were you when I needed you, Janet? Alas, I was seduced by the earlier glowing article and then read no others, saving myself (I thought) for delight.
Like a good soldier I plowed on, hoping to find something to redeem my initial interest. Instead, I left the book hungry, so I made the Fannie Farmer Cookbook coffee cake of childhood and found it far more satisfying.
I should have know better than be snookered when I could be sugared instead!
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