Briefly, A Delicious Life

This is the type of book that seems like it would so beautiful and rich and ghostly (ha) based on the cover and title alone.


It's not.

Frankly




I JUST DONT CARE


about anything that takes place in this book.


It's like the book wanted to have interesting commentary and very atmospheric writing. But somehow it fails in both fronts. Characterization? Decent, but I don't like any of the characters and don't feel the need to spend time with any of them.


All the potential conversations about the power of the church and taking revenge on those who abuse those positions? It's as if the book thinks it's accomplished this commentary at the end of the book. But it hasn't. You don't have a conversation or critique by just briefly mentioning some things and just focusing the rest of the book on a goat.

God, this book sounds like it would be so good but it's just so dreadfully uninteresting in so many respects. It has moments of extreme beauty and interest. George grappling with her place in the universe? WHY JUST MENTION THIS IN PASSING RATHER THAN ACTUALLY EXPLORING IT? Blanca's revenge on church members? Mentioned in passing. The idea that Blanca is finally heard and listened to after centuries of not being heard? Care to explain that more or talk about the implications or add something poetic and meaningful to it beyond just a singularly impactful sentence?

I get that the point may be that we're with these characters for a short period of time, kinda juxtaposed against Blanca's eternality.
But does it have to be such a boring part of their life? Genuinely, the most interesting parts are those of flashbacks or flash forwards? There are no propulsive forces in this book. We aren't moving towards anything, we're just there. And it's not fun. It's not good. I had no desire to read this book. And why try to sell this as a sapphic love story? Okay, Blanca has a crush on George? That's not a love story, babes. This isn't even a ghost story. I am telling you now that the most intriguing thing about this book is the description. In every other respect, it is beyond underwhelming.

I just can't with this book. It's less than 300 pages and it felt like a drag. Don't waste your time.

I know I will forget this tomorrow. And honestly, I'm just glad to be done with this slog of a book.

Just went back and read my review of the first book I read from Nell Stevens, (one of her memoirs), and my feelings on this book share some similarities. 

1) I'm not sure what the goal was, other than recounting a factual, if miserable, moment in historical figures' lives, now with bonus ghost. 
2) There were a number of moving parts that didn't necessarily add up to a satisfying reading experience. 
3) The motif of a writer focused on writing seen in the Bleaker House memoir continues in this work of fiction as the author as voyeuristic ghost narrates George Sand's creative process, her pursuit of publication. 

All new to this particular book:
I think I spent about as much time disgusted as I did enchanted by detailed descriptions of sights and experiences, which in the sense that both evoked emotion adds up to masterful wording!

Aside from making me feel even more strongly about a person's right to choose, and right to abortion access, I don't know what the story line  of teen pregnancy, (and the ghost mission of raging more or less effectively and incorporeally against local pedophiles) was meant to accomplish within the narrative.

There are glimpses of questioning gender norms and heteronormativity in a historical setting via George Sand, but they feel more like a drive by with everything else going on in the story.

Overall, way more carnal than I was expecting

I think if I'm to pick up a third book from this author, I'll have to hear a review specifically emphasizing how coherent the narrative throughline was and how satisfying the ending was. With this quality of writing, I really would like to see it in future novels!

⚠️ Eating disorder, statutory SA, SA, domestic abuse, child abuse