Coffee-Stained Nightstand: a Reflection

I finished reading The Heroines by Eileen Favorite.  

Being a Fforde Ffan, I had high expectations of a novel in which heroines from classic literature show up at an Illinois bed and breakfast for rest, relaxation, and a break from the drama of their inky lives.

I will tell you this book was not what I expected.  The drama in the story had more to do with the narrator, daughter of the innkeeper, than the heorines that came to stay, but because of what happens in the story--a thirteen-year-old daughter feels slighted by her mother in favor of the Heroines--there are some good literary moments.

I really, actually, enjoyed the structure of the story.  The chapters were laid out in the way classic literature used to be (the chapter title, and a few subtitles letting the reader know what to expect in the chapter), and the chapters went back and forth between the current plot and giving background to let the reader know why that part of the plot is significant or how a certain situation came to pass.  In effect, there were two stories going on, but it worked.

One criticism I have for the book is the way it wrapped up.  I felt the ending was sort of tacked on in an attempt to give the readers some sort of satisfaction.  I would much rather have had an open ending than the one I was provided.  It's not that I didn't like the ending, or that it didn't fit necessarily, but the way in which it was written left a lot to be desired, in my opinion.  It should have been longer, or omitted completely.

For those looking for a light, fun read about an interesting situation, this is a pretty good read.  I prefer Fforde, but it wasn't bad.

Coffee-Stained Nightstand: Next Up

In keeping with my two-books-a-month goal, I'm starting another book for February, which should give me more than enough time to finish it.  It's one that intrigued me when I first saw it on the shelves, so when I saw it on the bargain books rack yesterday, I picked it up and brought it home.

This evening I'll be starting The Heroines by Eileen Favorite.  According to the inside cover:

Although a true lover of books, Anne-Marie Entwhistle perfers not to read to her spirited daughter, Penny, especially from the likes of Madame Bovary, Gone With the Wind, or The Scarlet Letter.  These novels, devoted to the lives of the Heroines that make them so irresistable, have a way of hitting too close to home--well, to the Homestead, actually, where Anne-Marie runs the quaint family-owned bed and breakfast.

In this enchanting debut novel, Penny and her mother encounter great women from classic works of literature who make the Homestead their destination of choice just as the plots of their tumultuous, unforgettable stories begin to unravel.  They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress.  A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns.  These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attnetion than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give.

Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on.  But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen-year-old embarks on her own memorable tale.

Being a lover of Fforde, the idea of these heroines escaping their own drama definitely caught my eye.  I'm beginning this book with great interest, and hopefully, I won't be disappointed as I was with my last literary endeavor.