The Book Depository The Innocents by Francesca Segal
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Price: £8.92
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: The Innocents : Paperback : Vintage : 9780099569527 : : 10 Jan 2013 : Winner of the 2012 Costa First Novel Award. Adam and Rachel are getting married at last. Childhood sweethearts whose lives and families have been intertwined for years; theirs is set to be the wedding of the year. But then Rachel's cousin Ellie makes an unexpected return to the family fold. The Book Depository The Innocents by Francesca Segal - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9780099569527
MPN: 9780099569527
GTIN: 9780099569527
Author: NAG
Rating: 5
Review: I read this book when it was newly published but I must admit that the characters and plot have stayed with me and I find myself recommending it time and time again to friends particularly those who are about to be or newly married, though older friends and family have also enjoyed the book very much. As many reviewers have noted the language is beautiful and there are moments of delightful humour throughout. There are also wonderful passages of great clarity and wisdom which I find rare in new books. Although it is a modern reinterpretation of the Age of Innocence, it is so good that it feels like a classic in its own right, so I was not surprised when it won the Costa Award and I believe it has won various prestigious awards in the USA as well. More please Ms Segal!!
Author: Miss Danvers
Rating: 1
Review: The Innocents is intended to be a resetting of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence from wealthy late 19th Century Manhattanites to the present day North London not-quite-as-wealthy Jewish community. That's a fairly easy ride for a first time novelist, to take an existing narrative and use its structure, therefore avoiding the challenges in plotting your own story. But I shan't take issue with Francesca Segal over that decision. I was drawn to this book because the community she writes about is one that I know very well. It was somewhat of a shock, then, to discover that I barely recognised it. The Gilberts, whose daughter Rachel is engaged to Adam Newman -through whose eyes the story is told - are photo-fit, stereotype rich Hampstead Garden Suburb Jews. Lawrence Gilbert has his own law firm, his aubergine hair-coloured Israeli wife is big on entertaining - food plays an important part in the gatherings of family and friends. But what these characters lack, which makes them unbelievable, is any kind of warmth or humour, two qualities that I would not just hope, but expect, to see portrayed whenever Jews get together. Instead there are cumbersome explanations of Jewish traditions and festivals that seem to put Segal removed from the world she is writing about, at one point telling us that 'Jewish families eat sweet things' for the New Year. This detachment from the world she is creating (I have no idea whether Segal is Jewish or not) just appears as though she has done some research and feels the need to let the reader know. Two of the four 'endorsements' on the cover describe Segal's writing as 'witty'. I'm sorry but I did not come across anything that even began to raise a smile. And as is so often the case these days, a distinct lack of precise editing that left in both a whopper of a dangling modifier (Page One of The How to Write Effectively book), and a completely wrong word, left me tutting and cursing, loudly ready to fling the book across the room. A deep disappointment.
