Falling Angels: A Novel

Falling Angels a book by Tracy Chevalier

A bewitching tale told thru the eyes of two turn-of-the century London families. Tracy Chevalier makes you feel like you are observing them from the outside under a glass yet at the same time she makes you feel like you are taking sides and routing for one or the other family members. She tells this story through a variety of shifting perspectives of wives and husbands, friends and lovers, masters and servants and she manages to keep each character superbly under prospective...

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worth the time

I struggled to stick with this book at first, but after I finished it, I was glad I did. Just enough detail, strong symbolism, and hints of greater truths.

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definitly worthwhile

it was not as captivating as 'the lady and the unicorn' bu tdefinatly a good read.

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Beautiful and Unforgettable

I loved this book. Beautiful, ingenious writing and totally unpredictable. Simply unforgettable.

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Good, but not my favorite Chevalier book

I have read every one of Tracy Chaevalier's books (except Virgin Blue, which I plan start in a few days) and I have to say this is probably my least favorite. It was good, but I never felt that 'can't put it down' feeling I had with ' The Girl with the Pearl Earring' and 'The Lady and the Unicorn'. But like I said it's a good book in it's own standing, I just felt compared to her other works it was the weakest.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

You Won't Be Able to Put Down

I loved this book. It was slightly slow to begin, but once you got into it, it was very interesting. I enjoyed the different views of each character. You almost came to become personal with them. My only complaint is that the ending wasn't an ending. It left unanswered questions and felt as though the development of the characters could have been extended to some point.

another great

the best author and great book!

Chevalier is a Great Story Teller

This is the second book of hers that I have read, and again, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I appreciate Chevalier's ability to immerse the reader another era and connect the reader to the characters and a historic event. Falling Angels takes place in the first decade of the 20th century in England when the women's suffrage movement gained momentum. Chevalier's very clever in her story telling as she draws the reader into the story and connects us to the characters, but then suddenly something unexpected happens. For me, Falling Angels is a reminder about the unpredicability of life and choices, no matter the century.

HORRID!

Let me begin by saying that I adored Girl With a Pearl Earring and thought it lovely and vivid. This book was awful. Nine narrators. Unsympathetic characters who behave cruelly and without thought to consequences. The only character I truly loved, a quiet, observant child called Ivy May, is raped and strangled at a suffragist rally. Appalling, gratuitous, and dreadful. Also a lazy writer's waste of a good character's potential. Instead of developing the more intriguing characters, she peppered the story with crudeness and intermittant tragedy. Very disappointing. I stuck with it hoping for a redeeming quality but it provided none. Rather than donating it to the public library as I planned, I'm going to toss it in the garbage.

depressing, dull- nothing like her other titles

After Reading Chevalier's other two books, I eagerly began this book. It was a major disappointment. It was dull and downright depressing.

LOVED IT

i thought this book was great- I've read all of her books and I love them all, but this is one of my favorites!! I love her style, and the different perspectives.

totally unpredictable

this book was very good-not as good as lady and the unicorn and virgin blue but still worth the read. the book started off well then got kind of boring then all of a sudden became an unpredictable page turner-very surprising and unpredictable. as usual tracy chavelier writes beautifully.

Don't bother

This book was not only slow, but I felt like they kept telling the same story over and over again. This was my first and last novel by this author, I was NOT impressed

Do Not Recommend

This is the second book I have read by this author and it is likely to be the last. Her characters lack depth and she fails to transport you to the time and place where the story unfolds. This book creeps along as the characters give a superficial recount of the day. Finally out of no where you are hit with a surprise ending that the author again fails to develop. The best word to describe this book is FLAT.

A page turner that grips your heart and pulls you along.

I have read all three of Chevalier's novels, and I found this one to have been my favorite... Characters that become a part of your life--A real page turner that grips your heart and pulls you along, drawing you in, holding your interest and wishing that there was a sequel. Making you wonder at the chilling cruelties of humanity, it's strengths and frailties...

Different Views

I LOVED this book because it is actually something else. Tracy gives us not one point of view but we see things from everyones(characters) perspective, which gives us much more of an understanding.

very good

The author is adept at describing different times very well with simple, eloquent prose; less is more with her. In this novel she also uses multiple perspective to bring a larger stable of characters to life than she did in Girl with a Pearl Earring. Some credulity is asked for on the part of the reader when some rather improbable coincidences take place. But the characters are again engaging. They speak not in perhaps the 'voices' they would actually have used (e.g. poorer grammar for the lower class maids, etc.), but in polished prose that nonetheless captures their thoughts and essential characters. Perhaps sometimes their observations overstep what the actual character's perception would allow them to realize, but on the whole, it's successful. Themes are a bit more mixed than in Girl with a Pearl Earring, covering class, the role of women and the problems of dissatisfaction that must have plagued many Victorians, Victorian attitudes about death, and general Victorian morality, mainly as it applied to women.

Suprisingly unsatisfying

I fell in love with Girl with a Pearl Earring and was dissapointed with this work of hers the plot lacks something the characters are flat

Absolutely Amazing

I just love it when books put the reader into the story! Especially in diary form! But this story is one that every person today is not so familiar with, and that is exactly what makes it so compelling...this story is one of a woman on a journey of freedom, and all of the struggles on that journey. This is definitely one story worthy of telling again!

Falling Angels

Falling Angels was a great story that was wonderfully written. This story tells of different events through different people's point of view. The characters were very easy to ralate to and you felt the emotion with them. The best ting that I liked about this book however, was the way you got to see what different people thought about what was happening. For example if Simon was following Kitty but lost her in the crowds of people and didn't know what happened to her, it goes to Kitty's piont of view and you find out just what did happen. Overall, this was a wonderful book that I highly recomend.