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Love Child: A Novel
An enthralling new novel from the highly acclaimed author of Becoming Jane Eyre
The compelling story of a forbidden marriage, a baby lost, and a love triangle gone horribly wrong, Love Child centers on Bill, a South African woman whose life has been defined by the apartheid-era, class-riven society in which she lives. Under pressure to make her will, Bill is forced to thi...more
The compelling story of a forbidden marriage, a baby lost, and a love triangle gone horribly wrong, Love Child centers on Bill, a South African woman whose life has been defined by the apartheid-era, class-riven society in which she lives. Under pressure to make her will, Bill is forced to thi...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
June 28th 2011
by Penguin Books
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Though Kohler is an elegant writer (she teaches creative writing at Columbia and is beloved by Joyce Carol Oates, Edmund White and me) she disappoints in a few major ways in this short novel. Characters were not believable, the setting of South Africa was not fleshed out, and the back and forth from the 1930's to the 1950's was jarring. Another minor annoyance: she names her female main character Bill. In an interview she says the names for the novel were actual names of her own family members.
A fairly quick and somewhat absorbing read, Love Child is the story of a woman nick-named Bill and her rather tragic life in South Africa in the 1920s-late 50s. Bill's husband has recently died, and her accountant is nagging her to create a will, which causes her to reflect on the secrets of her past.
A lot of people commenting on this book seemed to hate the fact that Bill's current life and her past are revealed in parallel. Not exactly flashbacks, but switching back and forth between the prese...more
A lot of people commenting on this book seemed to hate the fact that Bill's current life and her past are revealed in parallel. Not exactly flashbacks, but switching back and forth between the prese...more
3.5
A nice little book about young love, secrets and mistakes.
The story is about a woman named Bill. Taking place in South Africa, the story goes back and forth between the 'present day' - which is the mid 1950s - and the 1920s and 30s. Present day Bill is a widow with her two sons away at boarding school. She is faced with her own immortality, when she has to consider who to leave her money and possessions to in the case of her own death.
We also see her past. In the mid-1920s as a 17 year old,...more
A nice little book about young love, secrets and mistakes.
The story is about a woman named Bill. Taking place in South Africa, the story goes back and forth between the 'present day' - which is the mid 1950s - and the 1920s and 30s. Present day Bill is a widow with her two sons away at boarding school. She is faced with her own immortality, when she has to consider who to leave her money and possessions to in the case of her own death.
We also see her past. In the mid-1920s as a 17 year old,...more
Bill is a woman who has always had her life controlled by men; first her father and then her second husband. Now even as a widow, Mr Parks the estate executor is trying to convince her that she must leave her inheritance to her sons but Bill has other plans for the fortune. Through flashbacks we learn of Bill's past from her late teen years to her marriage to Mark. We of course learn of her 'love child' to whom she would like to leave some of her fortune but will she be able to locate her?
In gen...more
In gen...more
I was in some debate as to whether or not to give this a three or a four. I had two quibbles with the novel, however, and thus, took away two stars.
The first quibble: The novel is told in two parts, "modern" day, 1956, in which Bill (an old chick) is widowed and her lawyer is bugging her to write a will cause she is quite wealthy. This brings up her past, the people in it, her greedy family waiting for handouts, her sons who really don't know her at all, are already wealthy, and have no interes...more
The first quibble: The novel is told in two parts, "modern" day, 1956, in which Bill (an old chick) is widowed and her lawyer is bugging her to write a will cause she is quite wealthy. This brings up her past, the people in it, her greedy family waiting for handouts, her sons who really don't know her at all, are already wealthy, and have no interes...more
I chose this book on a whim because it had an intriguing cover and the author was had received lots of awards. I learned next to nothing about South Africa (where the author grew up). It was a sad story and I never understood why the woman nicknamed Bill was making any of the choices she was. She fought when she should have reasoned and was passive when she should have fought back and ran away when she should have stayed. I felt sorry for her but couldn't help seeing that she chose money and com...more
Bill is the daughter of a diamond evaluator and a semi-invalid mother in South Africa in the 1920’s. Her role in the family is being her mother’s helpmate, and it has been that way since she was 10 years old. Bill is known as the prettiest of the three daughters and her father’s favorite. She enjoys the effect she has on men of all ages. When she visits her father at work one day, she catches the eye of one of the other diamond evaluators, Isaac, and sets her cap on him. Read the rest of my revi...more
Really intriguing book. I love South African fiction...this is packed for such a short book. I think I would have preferred if she had used a different style, one more descriptive and more fully developed characters. But I know why she wrote it this way and definitely think it works for the story and what she is trying to communicate to the reader. Not my favorite style of novel though. I am excited to meet her and talk to her about the book!
I would have liked for the book to focus more on the titular love child than on what was contained in the book. It would have been interesting to see Hannah interacting with her long-lost mother and her two half-brothers. The two servants' stories of Bill might have been more interesting than Bill's, sorry to say.
Sad narrative of lonely disconnected woman reviewing her past to help with her decision who to leave her estate to in her will. Begins in the mid-50's and goes back to the mid-20's to show her origins and the loves and abuse and relationships they shaped her life.
I wish the structure of the book had been a bit different, jumping around time periods in such short chapters was discombobulating at times. That being said, it was otherwise well-written and engrossing (I finished it in one night).
Love Child is a wonderful novel. I thoroughly enjoyed every secret that the author revealed in the best way, leading us to sympathy and understanding. I highly recommend this novel to general raeders seeking a great read.
For me, this book lacked sparkle. The author wanted the narrative to be haunting and remote, but because the characters' actions remained unfathomable, I was as detached from the story as they were from empathy. A very mediocre, but fast, read.
One week later and I had totally forgotten the story. I read the whole story on a cross-country flight. Guess I should have watched the in-flight movies, they might have been more memorable,
Mmmmm, the conclusion leaves something to be desired. However, by and large, this novel is a page turner!! Interesting and complicated characters that make this a worthy choice for a book club read.
lovely novel. oh, poor bill. she could have done so many things differently, and yet i didn't get angry with her for poor decisions. she was too weak to believe she was able to control her life.
Aug 02, 2011
Maryann Cole
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction
I enjoyed this book very much. The small novel is about Bill, a prosperous woman who reflects upon her life in the 1920's and 30's when she was a young woman. Bill had a life that was filled with love,loss,betrayal and heartache. The story was well written and I couldnt put it down. I wanted to find out more about Bill.
I truly enjoy anything by Sheila Kohler (if you have not read CRACKS, please do!). This book did not disappoint. The novel is told in alternating chapters that go back and forth in time and tell a compelling story.
It was ok. The motivations of the characters didn't make any sense and some of the most potentially interesting situations were glossed over.
I really enjoyed this book. Easy to read and I enjoyed the time and place the story was set in. I would recommend.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this quick little novel. The end wasn't to my taste, but it was an interesting story.
Read it because of the South African connection. Enjoyed it but found the ending disappointing.
This would have been a five star rating if the ending were as well developed as the rest of the story. Great character development - very well written.
Ehh. A quick, easy read but there's a lot left open & the ending is quick, short & somewhat confusing.
It was a good read, but somewhat forgettable. I felt like it lacked depth.
I really liked this. It was an I treating and sad story but well written.
Loved this book until the ending which I found disappointing.
A quick, enjoyable read, but the ending fell flat.
Sheila Kohler spins a story so intriguing that you'll find this book hard to put down.
I'll be reviewing it next week at my book blog: www.marianslibrary.wordpress.com
Happy Reading!
Kathy
I'll be reviewing it next week at my book blog: www.marianslibrary.wordpress.com
Happy Reading!
Kathy
I'd give it 3 1/2 stars if that were an option.
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| BOOKMARKS : Sheila Kohler | 1 | 1 | Aug 25, 2011 03:26pm |
Sheila Kohler was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the younger of two girls. Upon matriculation at 17 from Saint Andrews, with a distinction in history (1958), she left the country for Europe. She lived for 15 years in Paris, where she married, did her undergraduate degree in literature at the Sorbonne, and a graduate degree in psychology at the Institut Catholique. After raising her three girl...more
More about Sheila Kohler...
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