The Diary

Soon after their Mother's death, sisters Emily and Sarah find her diary. The contents, going back to 1951, seem to contradict many facts, as they have known them, about their Mother's life. Hesitant at first, they decide to search for the truth. Eileen Goudge, as always, creates a fascinating story with a surprising ending.

This was a book club read, and probably, I wouldn't have picked up this book otherwise, so perhaps that has some effect on things. I don't know. What I do know is that I was definitely not into this book, and I walked away kind of disappointed. It was a quick enough read, something light that doesn't require a lot of thought or depth, so it's got that going for it.

The biggest problem for me with this book was how heavily it leaned on tropes and cliches. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% all for tropes and cliches when used well. Heck, sometimes I'll pick up books just for a particular trope that I normally love. This? This was just ... a mess. The main character is a wealthy, perfect, upper class teenager who has everything going for her, who everyone thinks is beautiful. She's dating an upper middle class boy in her town, which is okay because even if he's not rich like her family, he's super attractive and is a football star and everyone agrees that he's just an all-around good kid. And since they're both perfect, they're perfect together. Except, oh no, here comes the bad boy, AJ, who has had no contact with Elizabeth in years, but she's inexplicably attracted to him. But, alas, he's also dirt poor and got into some trouble with the law and of course, someone of her status can't be with someone of his status.

The conflicts in this book feel very contrived, and the interactions between characters feel stilted and forced. AJ shows up after years of being gone, and Elizabeth trips all over herself to swoon over him because she remembers how attracted she was to him when they were 11 and spent some time together then. But her long-time boyfriend has finally proposed, and of course, on paper, they're the perfect match. This is essentially what the entire conflict of the story boils down to: which boy will she choose and why does she end up with the man we already know she married? For me, that just wasn't enough. I didn't feel like any of the characters had any particular chemistry, and I didn't connect with any of them enough to root for them.

The characters themselves felt two-dimensional and unrealistic to me. They felt like caricatures. Even Elizabeth's two grown daughters, who I'm guessing are supposed to be in their 40s, come off sounding like teenagers. They're just flabbergasted that their mother would have the audacity of loving someone before their father! How does that even happen? Their reactions made me cringe several times, and I just couldn't picture any 30-year-olds or 40-year-olds being so naive and reacting to things the way they did.

The underlying story of this, how two people fell in love, sounds terribly endearing and romantic, and to be sure, there are parts that are, but I think where it falls down is really in the delivery. It sounds like it should be a good read, since I'm a romantic at heart, but it didn't feel like there was really anything at stake, and the characters fell flat for me. That was enough to kill it.

If you're a fan of these particular tropes, this might be a good read for you. The other women at my book club seemed to like it and were endeared to the story, or it reminded them of people they had known. Unfortunately, this just wasn't my cup of tea.

Elizabeth is in hospice, and her daughters, Emily and Sarah, are cleaning out her house. Up in the attic they find Betsy's old diary. As they read it, they begin to see their mother and father in a new light.

A couple of days ago I saw a blog post about short novels. I read a few comments and thought to myself, I don't think I would enjoy a short novel. No time to really get to know the characters or get involved in the plot. Well, I was wrong. I liked this short novel. It was well written, interesting and focused. As readers, we learned about a brief period in Elizabeth's life and likewise for her daughters. Ms. Goudge didn't stray from her plot and the story moved along and a good pace without any dragging.

This plot was right up my alley. If the main character finds an old journal or some hidden letters and must then solve some secret mystery, then that is a book for me. And that is just what happened in this book. We only went back to 1951, but the transitions between the two times were seamless. As I was reading I knew how I wanted it to end, but couldn't figure out where Ms. Goudge was going. I was pleasantly surprised by the twist at the end.

Even though we were only with them for a short while, I really liked the characters. Knowing that Elizabeth ended up getting married and having two daughters allowed me to root for both of her suitors. I liked them both, and wanted them both to be happy.

I am not usually a fan of romance as the main theme in a novel, but I really enjoyed this book. It was a light and easy read that had not a thing wrong with it.

Audible version.
I didn’t esp enjoy this, it never seemed to get my attention. Not very interesting, as I thought it would be.
I don't care for Susan Erickson as narrator. Her voice is rather sharp, and not pleasant sounding, probably a large part of why I just couldn’t get into this story. She doesn’t have an accent, which is really nice.
I wish authors would pay more attention to who narrates their books, it makes or breaks the audible versions.
I ended up skipping thru most the chapters to the last 2.