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Sep 03, 2017DorisWaggoner rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I should have done as another reader did, and made a list of the characters, their characteristics, and their relationships. Even reading the book in two days, I had trouble keeping track of them. I never had this problem with "Bel Canto." Like the six children, I had difficulties forgiving the parents and step parents for what felt like their huge selfishness. None seem to think about the consequences of their behavior for their kids. The book is necessarily episodic, covering 50 years. Sometimes the holes this leaves in the story left me saying, "What happened?" Many episodes are wonderful, beautifully written even when I didn't get how it fit until something years later explained it. I especially liked Franny, whose christening party begins the book, and whose reluctant attendance at a Christmas party closes it. An interesting book, just not Patchett's best.