The Heroines
Eileen Favorite (is that really her name???)
2008
231 pages
This book was a giant disappointment. Thank gawd it only took me a few hours to read.
Basically, it is the story of Penny and her mother Anne-Marie, who owns a B&B that is popular with literary Heroines. Madame Bovary, Scarlett O’Hara, Anna Karenina…these are just a few of the guests that have popped in over the years. However, the appearance of a mysterious Hero (or maybe he’s a Villain, Penny can’t quite figure it out) shakes up their world.
Shortly after I started reading it I kept thinking the author was capitalizing on the success of the Thursday Next books. Actually, I still think that. But then I got sidetracked by the book, since it (briefly) got interesting. Then it got annoying again as the author kept switching back and forth between the current action and back story. And at 231 pages, you shouldn’t be devoting that much space to back story. Then, after a final 50 pages of back story, the author tied up the ending in 9 pages. Needless to say, the ending didn’t impress me much.
Oh…and a note to the author. The truth about Penny’s dad wasn’t a big shocker either. As soon as his name was mentioned I had that one figured out. So, I’m sorry, but I didn’t like your book. And the more I think about, the more I don’t like it. I don’t like the chapter titles (I’ve always found the summarizing of chapters annoying), I don’t like how the story progressed (or didn’t progress), I don’t like the ending, and I really don’t like the cover art.
