Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2024 (paperback 2025)
Why?
I've been meaning to read Clare Chambers for a while, and I spotted this on Waterstones's buy-one-get-one-half-price.
Enjoyment factor
This is partly a time-slip novel and, as often happens, I was much more engaged with one of the strands than the other. I wanted to see more of Helen, the main protagonist, and found myself speed-reading the historical passages. I found the plot to be slightly over-complicated and lacking in focus.
That having been said, the characters were in my head even when away from the novel (and still are), which is always a good sign.
It left me thinking ...
It's easy to wonder what the take-away should be from this slightly peculiar novel with a happy-ever-after ending, but I'm still mulling it three days after finishing, so it's clearly made an impression.
What I'm mostly thinking about is how families or relationships don't need to be conventional to be fulfilling, which is amply illustrated here.
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