Mariana
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Especially irritating to have no epilogue when (view spoiler)The whole Geoff thing as a WHOLE annoyed me. They were just so vague and uninteresting together, apart, whatever.
I didn't like this one at all - loved The Winter Sea.
@Jennifer. I agree I like The winter Sea. much better also.
I enjoyed Mariana but I agree that Geoff was annoying. He just didn't seem that interested in Julia. I didn't like the way the phone call was left with no conclusion, I guess it was to show Julia was no interested in Geoff. I liked The Winter Sea much better also.
Not to beat a dead horse but I didn't buy the great romance across the ages either - I never believed that de Mornay was in love with dull Mariana! Seemed a bit more like the lord of the manor taking advantage of a naive young thing. I read the sample chapter of The Shadowy Horses, and wasn't sure if I would like it. I enjoyed the Rose Garden, and WS is on my keeper shelf.
The ending was very interesting and unexpected.. but I felt annoyed all the same because it ended too soon. No doubt they have had a past live together, but an epilogue would have concluded the story nicely. I just finished reading All Secret Things where Tom Beckett made a cameo apprearance. In one of the conversation, he told the heroin (Kate Murray) something like this " I have a friend who is very good at gardening" - which I presumed he meant Iain. What marvelled me was, why didn't he refer to Iain as 'my brother in law' instead. Just a small matter actually, but still left me wondering what had happenned to Iain and Julia after those last few pages of Mariana
All Secret Things definitely belongs to my keeper shelf. Kearsley done a wonderful job again by seamlessly moving from past to present, cleverly weaving the stories and putting the puzzles in place. And even though the war stories were narrated from different people's view point, it didn't crowd or confuse you. As usual, the characters were warm and wonderful and stayed with you for a long time. I highly recommend this book
I, too, didn't get the unanswered phone call at the end. I get she didn't pick up because she (in the spur of the moment) decided she loved someone else, but what did he want so badly to say to her?
I get that she was in love with Richard/Iain for centuries, but up until that point, she felt like she was in love with (Richard?)/Geoff. All of a sudden, her feelings for the real Geoff was turned off by the mere realization that Iain was the reincarnation of Richard. She only started loving Iain when she made that discovery, i.e. she didn't love him before that. It's like liking the guy during summer break and then suddenly not liking when when you go to school and realize he's the class nerd.
Jessica wrote: "I get that she was in love with Richard/Iain for centuries, but up until that point, she felt like she was in love with (Richard?)/Geoff. All of a sudden, her feelings for the real Geoff was turned..."I'm sure people have forgotten about this thread, but I wanted to reply to your comment about Ian. I felt that way the first time I read the novel. When I went back and read it, I was looking for the clues, and really paid attention to her interactions with Ian. She was more comfortable with him, and honestly he was the one she thought of more often. Ian was the one gardening with her, he was her first intro into that community, and he was always around. He had to be a backseat player because Julia had to remember on her own and make her own choices. The book is honestly a lot better on a reread. I just have to get my copy back, I loaned it to a friend and she was taking so long her daughter picked it up to start reading it.
I’ll have to give it a reread and see how I feel!
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I read The Rose Garden and really enjoyed it but, like Mariana, I get irritated that Kearsley can't give us an epilogue after the "happily ever after". It leaves me feeling kind of unsatisfied.
Also, what happened to Geoff? Why did he need to talk to her before she went off to the pub? I get that she let the phone ring b/c she figured out the answer to his question....she was seeing Richard and not Geoff when she looked at him. But what did he so urgently need to talk to her about? That was just left dangling. Annoying.