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Perils of a Literary Life
An exciting and gripping novel exploring the effects of losing your grip on reality. Profoundly influenced by romantic literature and striving to escape her possessive twin sister, Alice moves to the Yorkshire Dales to teach and live an idyllic dream in a moorland cottage. There she meets William, her elderly neighbour's nephew and professional actor, and is instantly attracted to him. William and Alice's friendship blossoms and Alice falls madly in love with William, believing they're soul mates. Alice overhears a row between William and his uncle over William's severe debt from gambling. When William's uncle dies after falling from the moorland crags above her cottage, Alice suspects William pushed him. Soon after, William's aunt Annie is taken ill and Alice suspects that William has poisoned Annie as a result of witnessing his uncle's murder leaving Alice to fear that she will be next. The Perils of a Literary Life is ultimately a romantic love story set in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales combined with the fast-paced nature and tense climax of a chilling thriller. As Alice, the heroine, becomes unable to distinguish between reality and fiction, this novel shows the fascinating impact of fantasy and literary fiction upon the psyche.
256 pages, Paperback
Published March 7, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 31, 2017
One for the Romantics!
Identical twins Beck and Alice are as different as chalk and cheese and, in this novel, I rather tended to side with Beck the outgoing, sporty type. Alice is the opposite, preferring to get stuck into a good book - lots of books, especially the classics. She eats and sleeps the characters and refers to them in every conversation she has with people. I did wonder how many friends she actually had as she seems to have a one-track mind - literature!
Alice wants to break away from home and live her life as an individual, not always being associated with her identical twin. She successfully applies for a teaching job in Yorkshire - teaching - yeah you guessed it!
The author describes Alice's house, the beautiful Yorkshire countryside and the characters who live there, very well with convincing detail. We meet Joe who lives next door to Alice and his sister Annie who lives in a caravan preferring to roam around the countryside and paint. They are the aunt and uncle of young William who Alice meets early in the novel and, for Alice, it is love at first sight. She feels like Cathy and has met her Heathcliff! I groaned at this point.
William shows Alice the sights and sounds of the area and the middle of the book does slow down a bit but soon picks up when Alice eavesdrops on a conversation between William and his uncle about William's gambling with Uncle Joe yelling 'you'll only get my money when I die!'
There is an accident some days later when Uncle Joe is out walking along the cliffs with William and suddenly falls over. Alice has seen them from her kitchen window, albeit at some distance, but is confused and can't figure out whether William was trying to hold his uncle's coat sleeve to stop him falling; or was he pushing him?
It's a good gallop to the end but when all is wrapped up in cuddly cotton wool and resolved to a favourable conclusion - oh dear - I groaned again.
The romantics will love it!!
Starship
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
Identical twins Beck and Alice are as different as chalk and cheese and, in this novel, I rather tended to side with Beck the outgoing, sporty type. Alice is the opposite, preferring to get stuck into a good book - lots of books, especially the classics. She eats and sleeps the characters and refers to them in every conversation she has with people. I did wonder how many friends she actually had as she seems to have a one-track mind - literature!
Alice wants to break away from home and live her life as an individual, not always being associated with her identical twin. She successfully applies for a teaching job in Yorkshire - teaching - yeah you guessed it!
The author describes Alice's house, the beautiful Yorkshire countryside and the characters who live there, very well with convincing detail. We meet Joe who lives next door to Alice and his sister Annie who lives in a caravan preferring to roam around the countryside and paint. They are the aunt and uncle of young William who Alice meets early in the novel and, for Alice, it is love at first sight. She feels like Cathy and has met her Heathcliff! I groaned at this point.
William shows Alice the sights and sounds of the area and the middle of the book does slow down a bit but soon picks up when Alice eavesdrops on a conversation between William and his uncle about William's gambling with Uncle Joe yelling 'you'll only get my money when I die!'
There is an accident some days later when Uncle Joe is out walking along the cliffs with William and suddenly falls over. Alice has seen them from her kitchen window, albeit at some distance, but is confused and can't figure out whether William was trying to hold his uncle's coat sleeve to stop him falling; or was he pushing him?
It's a good gallop to the end but when all is wrapped up in cuddly cotton wool and resolved to a favourable conclusion - oh dear - I groaned again.
The romantics will love it!!
Starship
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
April 10, 2017
I wanted to like this book but it didn't work for me. I read into the middle of the second chapter and then bailed. I just wasn't interested in finding out more about the protagonist's life as a twin.
2 stars for the idea behind this book.
I read this as a NetGalley ARC - Thank you for sending me a copy.
2 stars for the idea behind this book.
I read this as a NetGalley ARC - Thank you for sending me a copy.
June 5, 2017
Absolutely loved this book
Alice, the romantic, has spent a lifetime losing herself in books and finding them in everyday life. Her sister the complete opposite has plans for her, but Alice is determined to break away and live her life her way. A move to the Yorkshire Dales, the home of 'Wuthering Heights', Alice meets William.
Soon after, Alice overhears a conversation that puts the seed of doubt in her head and things start to unravel at a rapid pace.
A romantic thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Alice, the romantic, has spent a lifetime losing herself in books and finding them in everyday life. Her sister the complete opposite has plans for her, but Alice is determined to break away and live her life her way. A move to the Yorkshire Dales, the home of 'Wuthering Heights', Alice meets William.
Soon after, Alice overhears a conversation that puts the seed of doubt in her head and things start to unravel at a rapid pace.
A romantic thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Read
June 3, 2019This book is perfect for anyone who loves literature, and explores what happens when you lose your grip on reality. Alice meets William, her neighbor’s nephew, and is immediately attracted to him. The two of them become great friends, but Alice is madly in love with him and believes they’re soulmates. Alice loses her grip on reality and this novel explores the impact of literature on the psyche.
Thanks to Netgalley.com for a review copy of this book.
Thanks to Netgalley.com for a review copy of this book.
May 28, 2017
2.5 stars for the literary references and lovely scenic descriptions. Otherwise, this romance...pretending to be a mystery...was predictable...trite...twee.
April 11, 2017
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
The perils of a Literary life è una versione moderna di Northanger Abbey di Jane Austen, essendo le due protagoniste molto simili, in preda alla loro fantasia sovreccitata da troppi romanzi.
Alice è sempre stata amante della letteratura fin da bambina, quando cercava rifugio tra le storie inventate per dimenticarsi della realtà di casa, dove suo padre, stressato per il lavoro, si era dato all'alcolismo e aveva rovinato il rapporto con la moglie, giungendo al divorzio. Ma ora, a venticinque anni, è giunto il momento di fare il grande salto e di separarsi dall'amata, anche se opprimente, gemella, Becky, tutta il contrario della nostra protagonista, che decide di trasferirsi a Yorkshire Dales, vicino all'abitazione delle Bronte, per insegnare in una scuola.
Estasiata per l'atmosfera bucolica e il villaggio pittoresco, Alice conosce subito il nipote del suo burbero vicino, William, un affasciante attore che sembra condividere con lei l'amore per la letteratura.
Ma sarà tutto oro ciò che luccica?
Dopo aver assistito a un evento tragico, Alice inizia a sospettare di aver sottovalutato certi aspetti del bel ragazzo e di averlo idealizzato un po' troppo, cominciando ad avere paura per la sua stessa vita.
Per essere il primo romanzo di un'autrice ancora all'università, devo dire che è piuttosto carino e ben fatto, anche se non eccellente.
La maggior parte del volume è una lunga introduzione, sebbene piuttosto piacevole e mai noiosa, alla vita della protagonista e a ciò che ha condotto a un evento terribile, narrato solo alla quasi conclusione, con un'accelerazione incredibile del ritmo narrativo.
La sua famiglia viene descritta con abbondanza di particolari, soprattutto Becky, e viene mostrata come l'alcolismo del padre abbia cambiato le due figlie, di cui una rigetta qualsiasi nozione di amore romantico, mentre l'altra desidera sguazzarci dentro.
Nonostante tutto, alla fine le cose si risolvono bene per entrambi i genitori, che riescono ad avere comunque un buon rapporto tra loro, mentre le figlie continuano a stare sempre insieme.
Uno degli elementi che forse mi ha dato più fastidio è il fatto che sia Becky che la madre spingessero moltissimo sullo stare insieme come sorelle, a volte proprio come se fossero una cosa sola. Alice è contraria a questo ma non fa mai sentire la sua voce finché non annuncia il suo impiego a Yorkshire Dales, dove spera di trovare soddisfazione ai suoi sogni romantici.
Ho apprezzato che le fosse chiaro quanto Becky fosse oppressiva nei suoi confronti, spingendola sempre da ragazzi che non la interessavano o lamentandosi del suo amore per la lettura, nonostante il grande affetto tra loro, però è decisamente stereotipato il binomio gemella attiva ed estroversa- gemella pensierosa e introversa.
The perils of a Literary life è una versione moderna di Northanger Abbey di Jane Austen, essendo le due protagoniste molto simili, in preda alla loro fantasia sovreccitata da troppi romanzi.
Alice è sempre stata amante della letteratura fin da bambina, quando cercava rifugio tra le storie inventate per dimenticarsi della realtà di casa, dove suo padre, stressato per il lavoro, si era dato all'alcolismo e aveva rovinato il rapporto con la moglie, giungendo al divorzio. Ma ora, a venticinque anni, è giunto il momento di fare il grande salto e di separarsi dall'amata, anche se opprimente, gemella, Becky, tutta il contrario della nostra protagonista, che decide di trasferirsi a Yorkshire Dales, vicino all'abitazione delle Bronte, per insegnare in una scuola.
Estasiata per l'atmosfera bucolica e il villaggio pittoresco, Alice conosce subito il nipote del suo burbero vicino, William, un affasciante attore che sembra condividere con lei l'amore per la letteratura.
Ma sarà tutto oro ciò che luccica?
Dopo aver assistito a un evento tragico, Alice inizia a sospettare di aver sottovalutato certi aspetti del bel ragazzo e di averlo idealizzato un po' troppo, cominciando ad avere paura per la sua stessa vita.
Per essere il primo romanzo di un'autrice ancora all'università, devo dire che è piuttosto carino e ben fatto, anche se non eccellente.
La maggior parte del volume è una lunga introduzione, sebbene piuttosto piacevole e mai noiosa, alla vita della protagonista e a ciò che ha condotto a un evento terribile, narrato solo alla quasi conclusione, con un'accelerazione incredibile del ritmo narrativo.
La sua famiglia viene descritta con abbondanza di particolari, soprattutto Becky, e viene mostrata come l'alcolismo del padre abbia cambiato le due figlie, di cui una rigetta qualsiasi nozione di amore romantico, mentre l'altra desidera sguazzarci dentro.
Nonostante tutto, alla fine le cose si risolvono bene per entrambi i genitori, che riescono ad avere comunque un buon rapporto tra loro, mentre le figlie continuano a stare sempre insieme.
Uno degli elementi che forse mi ha dato più fastidio è il fatto che sia Becky che la madre spingessero moltissimo sullo stare insieme come sorelle, a volte proprio come se fossero una cosa sola. Alice è contraria a questo ma non fa mai sentire la sua voce finché non annuncia il suo impiego a Yorkshire Dales, dove spera di trovare soddisfazione ai suoi sogni romantici.
Ho apprezzato che le fosse chiaro quanto Becky fosse oppressiva nei suoi confronti, spingendola sempre da ragazzi che non la interessavano o lamentandosi del suo amore per la lettura, nonostante il grande affetto tra loro, però è decisamente stereotipato il binomio gemella attiva ed estroversa- gemella pensierosa e introversa.
April 12, 2017
I liked this book. There was just nothing special about it that could tip it over to 4 stars. It was just a good book. I liked the idea of it. There's not much else I can say.
April 17, 2017
If you're into Literature so much so that you quote it all the time, then this is the kind of book you could read.
If you love literature, but you're not into quotes ruling your daily life, then this is the kind of book you'll read the first three chapters and ask is this going anywhere?
If you are curious and love a character who is into literature, is struggling to get her own identity away from her twin, gets grand ideas, is scared of admitting she's in love, adores her family, enjoys reading books and memorises what she reads then you'll find Alice to your liking. And one more thing, if you are into romance, then you'd be a tad disappointed that the light and Lust did not sparkle between William and Alice.
If you love literature, but you're not into quotes ruling your daily life, then this is the kind of book you'll read the first three chapters and ask is this going anywhere?
If you are curious and love a character who is into literature, is struggling to get her own identity away from her twin, gets grand ideas, is scared of admitting she's in love, adores her family, enjoys reading books and memorises what she reads then you'll find Alice to your liking. And one more thing, if you are into romance, then you'd be a tad disappointed that the light and Lust did not sparkle between William and Alice.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews