Not Yet Drown'd: A Novel
by Peg Kingman
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 52)
Read in October, 2007
I know this is mean but I was disappointed.
Dear Peg Kingman,
I'm sure when you were coming up with the ideas for Not Yet Drown'd - you thought you couldn't go wrong. India, bagpipes, tea, steamships, orphans and widows and tigers - what's not to love? But let me give you some advice for your next novel.
First of all, even if you do a whole lot of research, it doesn't all have to go into the book. Sometimes, too many details about how to brew tea or how the bagpipes work, really slo...more
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Read in May, 2008
During the early chapters of "Not Yet Drown'd," my internal monologue went something like this: "She did not just have two characters give a long, explanatory passage about something both of them should already know, just to inform the reader about it... No, she did... And now she's doing it again! No!"
But I am happy to report, the more I got into it, the more the book improved - though the author continued to punish her readers with her obvious inte...more
But I am happy to report, the more I got into it, the more the book improved - though the author continued to punish her readers with her obvious inte...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Victoria by:
The Historical Novel Societyrecommends it for: No one
I tried so hard to like this book but it was just too much of everything....too boring, too slow, too much detail, too many unlikable characters. I believe the concept was good and the book could have been so much better if the plot had not gotten so bogged down in an overabundance of detail. The author just wasn't taking the time to develop the characters fully, which would have made me care more about them. Instead she was taking too much time teaching every minute detail of tea, steamships, b...more
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Read in May, 2008
I didn't finish this book. I read the first 100is pages (out of 400 I think) and then I got really busy and didn't have time to finish. I couldn't renew it at the library and it was already several days late and I didn't have time or really the desire to finish.
I got up to the part where the characters get on the boat to travel to India. The part I read wasn't bad but it was pretty slow moving. There was a lot of detail about stuff I just didn't really care about (like bag pipes).
...more
I got up to the part where the characters get on the boat to travel to India. The part I read wasn't bad but it was pretty slow moving. There was a lot of detail about stuff I just didn't really care about (like bag pipes).
...more
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Read in January, 2008
No one is going to mistake this book for a Nobel Prize winner, but if you're just looking for a really fun read, I would definitely recommend it. Part adventure-quest, part historical romance, with vivid descriptions backed by a great deal of research. Kingman draws together bagpiping, steamboat design, suttee, incredibly strange and fascinating Equator-crossing rituals, the East India Company, and much much more into this panoramic story of nineteenth-century life.
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Read in July, 2007
Peg Kingman's novel is mysterious, intriguing and just downright absorbing historical fiction. This is the kind of story I truly love. It is smart and full of atmosphere with strong, interesting characters leading fascinating lives. There is such a marvelous sense of place and time journeying from Scotland to India with many cultural tidbits to ponder. The fact that the tale involves Scottish music, tea and an ocean voyage in the 19th century makes it irresistible!
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Read in November, 2007
This book took quite a while to get going. It starts off set in Scotsland about 100 years ago and there were lots of names of people and old-school manners stuff that was boring. But then, I was really into the last third because things really changed. The best part was at the end, I wish the book had started at the point just before it ended.
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Read in February, 2008
Part historical fiction, part mystery, part love story! I was captivated by this novel by Peg Kingman which begins in Scotland and ends up in India. Along the way I learned a little about Scottish music and bagpipes, the opium production in India, the tea trade in China and India, British rule over India and much more. It whetted my appetite to learn more on so many topics! Truly an outstanding first novel by Kingman.
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
fans of Austen
Deliberately paced and evocative - when recently widowed Catherine receives a mysterious package from her deceased twin brother, who died in India a year before, she decides she will never learn what really happened to him unless she voyages out there to see for herself.
This novel, set in 19th century Scotland and India, captivates the reader from the first chapter.
This novel, set in 19th century Scotland and India, captivates the reader from the first chapter.
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Read in November, 2007
This book was a fun victorian romp with a mystery thrown in. I learned a lot about tea, bagpipes, and India. The heroine is strong, smart, risk-taker especially for the era.
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Elizabeth Bennet on the high seas, with a minor in tea and steam engines.
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Too much detail, too little character development, weak plot.
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