‘B’ isn’t starting with a bang

Baer, Martha ~ As Francesca

When I selected this book I thought
Wow, everything’s different in ‘B’. It’s darker and more mysterious and then I realised that’s because the ‘B’ shelves are further from the sunny northern window than ‘A’ *d’oh*. The book’s blurb sounded like an interesting foray into the muddling of professional and online lives.

50-word description
Elaine Botsch is a go-getter in a soulless corporation and in the night hours becomes Francesca, the online sexual plaything of a dominatrix named Inez. After ‘Francesca’ mistakenly logs in under her real name, Inez hints she knows the real-life Elaine, sending her into an emotional and professional tailspin.

150-word review
The premise of ‘real’ and online worlds colliding was daring at the time (the book’s release in 1997 was still in the early days of widespread popularity of internet chat rooms) but the novel’s execution fell flat.

Plot climaxes slipped by quietly, hidden in long and rarely insightful prose about identity. The overall theme of the book suffered from confusion between wanting to be a cautionary tale of who we share our secrets with, a mystery novel or a precursor to the darker chick lit genre.

I couldn’t identify with or be drawn into the corporate and virtual worlds created by the author because neither was tempting. Most of the characters were thinly rendered and didn’t evolve past initial glimmers of interest.

I kept reading out of curiosity to learn which character was behind Inez’s user name. However, by the end it didn’t really matter because most of the suspects had been discounted too early in the text.

martha baer ~ as francesca

Found in
Fiction B

Read
Jul 09

Links
Random House book blurb
Frankston Library catalogue link

Rating
Underwhelming

This is book 25 of the project.

A drawn-out historical saga

Allende, Isabel ~ Daughter of Fortune

When I selected this book I thought
This has to be part of the unintentional family grouping on the A shelf, and I’ve never read an Isabel Allende book. I know, I know, famous and critically-acclaimed writer who’s sold mountains of books; I’m playing catch-up.

50-word description
In mid-1800s Chile, an orphan baby is taken in and raised by a middle class British family. The girl defies her careful upbringing and falls pregnant, which sparks a series of dangerous journeys to find her lover who is pursuing wealth in the Californian gold fields.

150-word review
My mother used to bring home towers of secondhand books when I was young and I did my historical saga apprenticeship with the biggest of James A Michener and Leon Uris.

I haven’t read one for a while though and was let down by Allende’s almost reportage style of narrative. New characters kept walking onto the pages and tedium set in while determining passages that could be skimmed and when sharp concentration was required to keep track of the central story. My yardstick of a book is how late I stay up reading on a work night – this was all early nights and I could easily control idle curiosity about how heroine Eliza’s life would pan out.

Allende’s descriptions of Chile, California and China were well rendered, as were her portrayals of social classes and perspectives of women during the period. Apart from that, trying to find memorable themes to discuss a week after finishing the book is a challenge.

isabel allende ~ daughter of fortune

Found in
Fiction A

Borrowed
Nov 08

Author’s link:
Author’s web site

Rating
Underwhelming

This is book 10 of the project.