was pleasantly surprised by this book, I went in unsure what to expect, especially with the confusion caused because this is apparently a childrens' book, In my mind it most decidedly is not, unless the publisher means YA,
The plot seems fairly simple but soon descends into darkness, There are a number of twists, the ones closer to the end were the most unexpected, I felt the characters are well rounded, and the conclusion to each of their stories is satisfying,
A quick, enjoyable read, Este o carte frumoasă, cu un stil de scriere elegant, specific literaturii englezești , scrisă la persoana I , alternativ, din perspectiva lui Samuel și Charlotte, personajele centrale.
O poveste ce atrage încă de la primele pagini, datorită intrigii dar și a descrierilor pline de culoare fără a fi plictisitoare,
Acțiunea începe in anulla o expozitie privată unde pictorul Samuel Goldwin își expune picturile,Fata sălbatică " este titlul unuia dintre tablourile expuse, acesta atrăgând cel mai mult atenția invitaților, Intrebat ,Cine este fata sălbatică " Samuel dă un raspuns incitant și provocator: ,este ea însăși, . . este o persoană pe care am cunoscuto acum mulți ani",
Din acest moment acțiunea se mută în trecut, în anul, când Samuel, tânăr student la Scoala de Arte Plastice din Londra, este nevoit să renunțe la studii și să se angajeze ca profesor de desen pentru fiicele unui domn înstărit, Ernest Farow, la conacul său ,Cele patru vanturi".
Aici, Samuel face cunoștință cu cele două surori, Marianne si Juliane, două copile complet diferite, dar și cu Charlotte, însoțitoare acestora, Între ei se va lega, treptat, o relație de prietenie aparte ce se va dovedi de bun augur în timp,
Încă din clipa sosirii sale pe mosie, Samuel își dă seama că multe lucruri nu sunt în regulă , că Marianne are un comportament instabil, că Juliane pare a se afunda pe zi ce trece în tăcere fără a spune motivele, că sunt aspecte ce trezesc multe suspiciuni, dar raspunsurile nu sunt satisfacatoare.
O intrigă bine construită, ce captivează cu fiecare fila citită , cu personaje ce evoluează întro directie surprinzătoare , mister ce se adâncește tot mai mult.
The book started with astar vibe, I thought it would be an average YA read, however There are some secrets in this house, and some really serious topics were brought up, and half way through I honestly couldnt put it down.
Set in Stone is an amazing book,
Written in a beautiful and enchanting prose, it weaves together events, plottwists, and ideas to ultimately come to a conclusion that nobody would've expected,
The narrators are Samuel Godwin, a young artist who is working as an art tutor at a country mansion named Fourwinds, and Charlotte Agnew, the governess of the two girls who live there.
The girls are sisters, Juliana and Marianne, and through them, a fascinating and dark mystery is woven,
I can often predict the outcome of a mystery, but in this case, not so much, sitelinkLinda Newbery is a wonderful author, and this book made me want to read her other novels,
Der Rahmen hat es einen Stern angehoben : I thought this was a fantasy, but just a pretty predictable book with no fantasy elements,.stars!
I originally read Set in Stone back in High School and aside from the big reveal all I could remember was that I really enjoyed it.
Cut to a few years later in which I'm purging my shelves I come across my old copy of Set in Stone for the purposes of rereading it, seeing how I like it, and determining whether it gets to stay on my shelves.
Needless to say, it certainly does, I enjoyed it immensely on my second journey,
I have seen a number complaints about this book, particularly about how this book is too slow and boring, I disagree. I think that Set in Stone often gets misgenred, or that people go into this novel expecting something else, I was shocked to learn that this book won the Costa Children's Book of the Year Prize for, not because it didn't deserve it, it certainly did.
However, I would not consider this a middle grade, YA at best, But honestly, I found this book in the general fiction section with all the other adult books and I agree that is where it belongs due to some deeply disturbing revelations in this book.
If you go into this book thinking that this is a dark fantasy or in the vein of your other typical YA novel then you will be disappointed.
Set in Stone is very much a dark gothic mystery very very reminiscent of Wilkie Collins' work like The Woman in White, Therefore there are moments of self reflection and monologue, and if you aren't accustomed to the pacing and flow of a lot of classics, one would naturally find the pacing to be slow.
This book was enthralling this second go round, With a somber and a eerie atmosphere, Linda Newberry has constructed a tight and well crafted out plot with twists and reveals that got me again! I must admit before rereading this book I forgot most of the details except for the main reveal and I found myself shocked with one sub plot reveal that I honestly did not see coming.
The only gripe I happen to have is that Samuel's musings and even Charlotte's can get a bit "too much", but this was sparingly,
It was a pleasure to go back to this read and I'm glad I did so, This has definitely deserved its spot on the shelf! I really want to give this two HOWEVER I am not the target audience and I acknowledge that had I read this at age thirteen I would have been enthralled.
Having to read this book for class, my view on it is quite mixed, This narrative mostly set at a country estate inhabited principally by a father, his two daughters, their governess, and their painting tutor, is filled with mystery and the traditional ways of Victorian literature, naturally shown from a neoVictorian point of view.
The mysteries were quite good, some better told than others, but what stuck with me the most is how unsympathetic pretty much all of the characters are.
The narrators, the governess Charlotte and the tutor Samuel, are both somewhat interesting yet failed to gain my appreciation, Overall not the worst nor the best book I have ever had to read for a class, Set in Stone is a big book, Astutely written with a fine eye for period detail it's set on the edge of the twentieth century, it's a complex and exhausting page turner full of emotion, turmoil and psychological revelations.
Written very much in a style reminiscent of sitelinkWilkie Collins, it is the tale of Samuel Godwin, an artist on his way to accept a new position.
He is to be the tutor to Juliana and Marianne, daughters of a wealthy man, Ernest Farrow, and live with the family in their fine home Fourwinds.
Fourwinds holds secrets, It's not long until Samuel finds himself obsessed with figuring out what they may be, This journey of discovery is joined by the governess to the sisters, Charlotte, who is also resident at Fourwinds and also has secrets of her own.
This is a very big book, The scope of what it covers is huge and it reminded me a lot of sitelinkRebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, There's a similarly high sense of melodrama, gothic horror and psychologically devastating revelations throughout both texts,
Set In Stone is full of secrets, Dense, twisting, lifewrecking secrets and many of these are of a very adult nature, It's complicated and occasionally hard to read if you're not familiar with this style I struggled at points and needed to reread a few sections in order to catch up.
Ultimately Set In Stone is one of those books that it's very hard to tear yourself away from, You're left with the strange, nearvoyeuristic, sensation that it wasn't just Charlotte and Samuel who grew obsessed with discovering the secrets held in this family and building, it was you as well.
It's a curious and discomforting way to finish a book and one, that I think, is a mark of its dark allure, Creepy in a completely different way than I expected,/
Nie dość, że autorka wykreowała tak różnorodne postacie to jeszcze praktycznie do końca książki zadziwiała tajemnicami, Kiedy nastawiło się na jakiś nadany przez autorkę tor i na jej tok myślenia kilka rozdziałów dalej okazuje się, że jest zupełnie inaczej.
Bardzo dynamiczna powieść praktycznie cały czas coś się dzieje, Postać Charlotte choć bardzo przyziemna była dla mnie bardzo ciekawa, Całkowicie oddana pracy, wręcz identyfikująca się z nią, małomówna, kryjąca tajemnice, Juliana poważna i spokojna, nie jest taka z wyboru, nosi na swoich barkach ogromną tajemnice, Marianne specyficzna i pewna siebie, na pozór jak dla mnie szalona ale mająca w swoim szaleństwie cel, Ernest Farrow, ojciec dziewczynek, to świetny manipulator, który wcale nie jest taki jakby się nam wydawało, Poznając postacie zaczynamy odkrywać tajemnice Fourwinds, okropne tajemnice, które nigdy nie miały zostać odkryte, Książka do końca nie zwalnia i trzyma poziom, I liked it. Some things and events were predictable, but, . . I kinda counted on that, so thats ok, This was a frustrating book, What started out as a fine pastiche to Victorian sensation fic i, e. , threads of insanity, improper sexual conduct, amp gothic innocenceinperil slid downhill under the weight of an extremely longwinded final act,
The story centers around the hero's time at Fourwinds, a picturesque English estate, Youngsomething Samuel arrives late for a
tutoring job amp meets a teenage girl on the moonlit driveway after which he's rescued by the second narrator, Charlotte, the governess/companion.
Through their parallel and contradictory turns at telling the tale, we get to know both daughters, Marianne, the younger, has a flouncy, carefree attitude that's occasionally marred by mental instability amp knowledge of sexual matters beyond her teenage years the older, Juliana, is shy amp reserved, while quick to deny interest in anything remotely sensual.
Presiding over all these characters is the girls' father, who carries an overbearing air amp a great sense of injustice re: his dead wife's failure to produce a son.
As you'd expect, Samuel amp Charlotte gradually uncover the source of Fourwinds' sinister secrets and it's a bad one, capped by a deserved scene of retribution on behalf of the victims.
So why theWhat should have been a fine pastiche is turned into an overlylong literary fiction, Instead of trimming the book to a taut Victorianstyle novella, the author yanks amp pulls until the story is stretched beyond its limit, Even after the dramatic confrontation, there'spages of closure that smothers the impact of a violent climax, It also includes an extremely unnecessary epilogue that bogs down the story with overdone Literary Fiction blahness, In short:
Anyhow, not only is this epilogue dull amp annoying, but it wrecks the isolated horror of Fourwinds while simultaneously scattering any connection with the supposed YA audience.
No teen reader cares about asomething smalltime artist as yammers about life amp death in terms of fiery past loves, contentment in calm moderation, amp the Lost Generation's gaping hole in English society.
WTF IS THIS Plotless Literary Fiction amp contemplation of crumpled society are NOT the same thing as literary Victorian pastiche, guys, Please stop trying to mash them into the same book, This means YOU, A. S. Byatt aka She Who Must Have Greatly Influenced This Author, as the spluttering psychological horror amp existential navelgazing dullness stank of Morpho Eugenia, albeit for a younger audience.
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Linda Newbery