A good read marred by the negative slant placed on female characters. Good standard fare though, a divorcee moves from the city to live with her Mum in the country.
slow pace suits a book about moving to the country, tractors and sheepdogs galore!
Negativity & females: Clare's Dad is dead, she says this is why her Mum has become sharper and meaner, fat shaming her for the post-divorce comfort pounds gained. Why are men not fat shamed? But isn't Sam’s Sister Alyssa positive? she has independent thought, rides a motorbike and is a budding tattoo artist? but her choice in men is thought of as a character flaw by Sam, who is also disappointed in her choice not to get a degree in art, he is presented as knowing the right thing to do and having the "decency" to let his sister do the wrong thing, he must wonder why she can’t be compliant like his dog.
Positivity & males: Sam is a partner in a veterinary practice, has a dog obscurely named Scout, who he thinks of as he would a future sexual partner, following orders without placing heavy demands upon him. Whilst for Clare, the divorce is a depression, for her ex-husbands it's freedom to spend his hard earned cash on touring the world, without the shackles of supporting his wife, very 1950s.
These early pages set a negative trend, which I can't see changing, life is not so straight forward. A union of pleasant characters Clare and Sam is on the cards, they have similarities, a dead parent and dogs, which would normally be good, except this would constict Clare from finding her true freedom/independance. Add a star if you can ignore my main criticism.
slow pace suits a book about moving to the country, tractors and sheepdogs galore!
Negativity & females: Clare's Dad is dead, she says this is why her Mum has become sharper and meaner, fat shaming her for the post-divorce comfort pounds gained. Why are men not fat shamed? But isn't Sam’s Sister Alyssa positive? she has independent thought, rides a motorbike and is a budding tattoo artist? but her choice in men is thought of as a character flaw by Sam, who is also disappointed in her choice not to get a degree in art, he is presented as knowing the right thing to do and having the "decency" to let his sister do the wrong thing, he must wonder why she can’t be compliant like his dog.
Positivity & males: Sam is a partner in a veterinary practice, has a dog obscurely named Scout, who he thinks of as he would a future sexual partner, following orders without placing heavy demands upon him. Whilst for Clare, the divorce is a depression, for her ex-husbands it's freedom to spend his hard earned cash on touring the world, without the shackles of supporting his wife, very 1950s.
These early pages set a negative trend, which I can't see changing, life is not so straight forward. A union of pleasant characters Clare and Sam is on the cards, they have similarities, a dead parent and dogs, which would normally be good, except this would constict Clare from finding her true freedom/independance. Add a star if you can ignore my main criticism.