Did you expect the way the narrative was told through such a wide variety of characters? Were there different perspectives you wanted to hear from or return to?
I had not preconceived ideas about the narrative voices. I never look ahead in a book to see how the chapters are presented. I like to be surprised as I turn the pages. And I’m used to reading books in which the story unfolds through different narrators and points in time. So it was an effective storytelling technique, from my point of view.
Initially, I was disappointed that we did not hear from Ivan again. But after further reflection and revisiting Eddie’s closing statements, I believe the ending was perfect. There was really nothing more Ivan could say to change my feelings about him or Eddie. And I think that including his narrative first, setting the stage, prior to bringing in the other characters’ reflections was just the right approach.
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I did not expect the wide variety of characters telling the narrative. I somehow wanted the characters to connect more, especially Eddie and Ivan.
I echo Janie’s comments. I like to follow the story in the manner the Author intended. I read with an open mind and allow the story to unfold.
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I read Secrets of Happiness and the style was very much the same, so I would have been more surprised had it been otherwise. The other more minor characters I would like to have heard from were all so tangential that it would have distilled the plot and really not been of value to the main narrative. Pure curiousity makes me want to hear more about Beverly’s perspective when Cara runs away and how she dealt with Steve and their early life. We do get a few snippets about their relationship, near the end of the book. Otherwise, having Ivan and Eddie bookend the the book, so to speak worked very well for me.
I really did not know much about the book or author so I just read it as it was, with no preconceived ideas. I guess I would like to have known more about how Ivan’s marriage and later life turned out.
The multiple POV format has gotten extremely popular and Silber does an excellent job keeping the story interesting. Was surprised to hear that some of the stories have appeared previously in publications. I liked the way she loosely connected the stories. As I wrote in a review, it’s one of the few books I have read where I disliked all the characters and still enjoyed the read.
I did not relate to many of the characters in this book, but I would have been happy with only Ivan, Eddie and Cara telling their stories - had they been more connected.