Love for Lydia, H. E. Bates

Genre:  Literary Fiction, General Fiction (Adult)

I’m an avid reader, always have been and occasionally I feel pangs of conscience for not having read a “classic” book, one it seems everyone has read and loved.
This book is one of those, I thought it was time to extend my reading, try something different. Sadly its one of those that others love but leave me cold.

I found it long winded and dreary, and so many times I was just waiting for something, anything, to happen. It seemed like every tiny aspect had to be described in minute detail.Maybe if I’d liked Lydia it would have helped, but I didn’t. she came over as a shallow, vapid, selfish girl, one who had to be the centred of attention, the focus of all the drama, and she didn’t care about others feelings, just used people for her own needs. I really didn’t know why the men fell in love with her.

I found it hard to really like any of the characters, I never really felt I understood them, didn’t know them enough to care about what they went through. I need to like characters ( or hate them) I need that strong emotion, need to enjoy what happens to them and here I just felt I wasn’t interested in any of them.
I probably liked Nancy the best, felt sorry for her, but not enough to really care ultimately about her. The boys – well, I just wanted to shout “Open your eyes! See what’s really going on!” But there – that’s why its not a story for me, but is for hundreds of thousands of others 😉

One I now know why I didn’t read it….great for others but clearly H.E.Bates writing isn’t for me.

Stars: Two, a miss for me

ARC received from Netgalley and publishers for review purposes.