Saturday, November 27, 2010

Review: Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman

Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher: Chatto & Windus, 2002
304p


'It's a brutally gorgeous morning brimming with blue air and the sweet smell scent of honeysuckle which grows wild in the woods beyond Front Street, when Ethan Ford fails to show up for work.'

Instead he and his wife of thirteen years, Jorie, steal some together time. Very much in love, this beautiful couple and their son, Collie, celebrate the perfect happiness of the life they share.

Not knowing the kid next door has made a phone call!

Not knowing that very soon Ethan will answer the door and know then the past he has been running from for so many years has finally caught up with him!

And nothing will ever be the same again!

In Blue Diary Alice Hoffman explores what happens to a family and a small community when one of its most respected members is found to be a suspected of a brutal crime. It raises issues of love and loss, friendship, loyalty and betrayal - at times it is compelling reading but too many different perspectives is a bit distracting. She can write lovely prose but everything in this book seems 'over the top' and often not very credible.
For me, not one of her best.

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2 comments:

  1. This wasn't one of my favorite Alice Hoffman novels, either.

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  2. This sounds really good to me but sorry to hear it wasn't her best!

    ReplyDelete