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EBM Book of the Month!
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FEB BOTM In the Shadow of the Heron discussion
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Feb 24, 2015 01:58PM
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In the Shadow of the Heron is a well written tale spanning four decades, incorporating much American history and some Irish history to interest the reader. However, the main crux of the plot where the protagonist Mary Alice, already married to Frank but suddenly finds she's married to Alex, doesn't seem very plausible to me, nor the explanation given at the end, and it left me a trifle disappointed. But hey, that's only my opinion of course as I'm a realist, but I would have liked a better explanation of Mary Alice's dilemma. Nevertheless, overall a readable, well-written story.
Good thoughts there Amanda. However, the two main male characters are not ghosts as far as I could make out, they are real people. Also, I wondered why Mary Alice stayed with Alex if she detested him so much?
Absorbing, well-written book!! Amazing how Carrie-Anne weaved so much history into one book! Very creative, unusual read, that leaves you intrigued about how things were able to be. Your questions will not be answered until the very end!
I agree...very good mix of historical fiction, fiction and history.
I'm not sure where else to put this the other BOTM Feb is closed. I did post my review on Amazon and on Goodreads.
In the Shadow of the Heron by Carrie-Anne O'DriscollMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
For me I think this is one of the most difficult books to review, for all the right reasons. I very much enjoyed this book. Even though the story is through Mary's eyes I was really more emotionally invested in Frank & Bella. I do wish there had been more insight into both of their thoughts. My emotions were all over the place with really the whole family but even if it feels a bit like cheating on this review I think readers should begin this book with a clean emotional slate. I have to say that the portions of the book spanning the 60's & Viet Nam were beautifully done. Regardless opinions on war I wish everyone viewed soldiers as Bella did. This truly was a great book but I'm still brooding on the ending. Thank you to eBook Miner and to the author.
View all my reviews
Being born in the 50's, growing up in the 60's, 70's and 80's there was so much in this book that I could relate to. I thoroughly enjoyed reading my first historical fiction, in fact I actually googled the senate members of Georgia to see if Alex Williams served!!Since I'm not the first to review this book I'm not going to go into the details of the storyline. While I don't believe C.A. O'Driscoll gave us a complete understanding why Mary had a lapse in memory, there are several opinions that have been posted..Savannah's black magic, spells and spirits taking possession of Mary, etc., but what came to my mind was amnesia. Such a strange disease that can take away everything you ever knew, or just bits and pieces and then suddenly return. It saddened me that Mary never read the inscription that Frank had written in Poe's book back in 1946. Possibly that was the one thing that may have renewed her memory and her entire life would have been different, yet where would that have left us with this great read??
I think one of my favorite quotes is when Bobby Kennedy was shot. Mary was asking Frank "why all of this was happening" Why do people think that if someone disagrees with them, they should die? Can't people just agree to disagree anymore?" It was a sad realization that not much has changed over the last 47 years. People still think that anyone disagreeing with them need to die. I'll have to agree with Mary, why can't we just agree to disagree!
I was given the book through a Goodreads vote giveaway for an honest review. I want to thank both Goodreads and C.A. O'Driscoll for the opportunity to read and review and I hope that those of you that are reading this review have gained new knowledge from previous reviews.
4 stars. Well written story. The characters were intriguing and kept me interested. I dont usually care for historical reads but this was enjoyable. The rnding was not whst I expected but I wasnt disappointed. Definitely a recommended read.
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