Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Review: So Long at the Fair

"Betrayal vs. loyalty...lust vs. love...infidelity vs. honor..."

Told in flashbacks between the present and 1963, So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz (author of the acclaimed Drowning Ruth), follows the story of two generations of several families in a small Midwestern town.

At the heart of it, though, is the examination of a marriage over the course of one day, as a husband wrestles with adultery, a wife comes face to face with her past, and a mistress struggles with the future of her affair, while also being pursued by another man.

I found the flashback part of the storyline a little hard to follow, but that could very well be because I read the majority of it while sitting beside an indoor pool at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville (imagine children's voices reverberating off the walls and you'll get the picture).

The past, and how it completely intersects with the present characters, takes the whole book to come together, but the pieces finally do fall into place. And, even though I wasn't always sold throughout, I was engaged enough and able to see that we were headed for a very dramatic conclusion, so I stuck with it. It wasn't my favorite book of the year, but it was a short read that did keep me curious, albeit sometimes confused.

7 comments:

Gayle Weiswasser said...

Hi Jill:

I found your blog tonight and linke to it from mine (http://everydayiwritethebook.typepad.com/books/2008/07/so-long-at-the-fair-by-christina-schwarz.html). You and I clearly have the same taste in books, as we've blogged about the exact same books in the last week or two! I will be adding you to my Google reader and my blog - so glad to have found you!

Gayle

Anonymous said...

I got *So Long at the Fair* last week, and hope to start reading it in the next few days. I like that the novel takes place over one day; you don't see that often.

Jill said...

Thanks, Gayle! So glad to have found you as well!

LisaMM said...

I just received this one from the publisher and plan to read it soon, so I sort of skimmed your review. I liked Drowning Ruth so maybe I'll like this one too.

Jill said...

I really look forward to both of your reviews of this one...I really think that my surroundings, and my lack of ability to concentrate, may have tainted my opinion.

Gayle Weiswasser said...

I have this coming from Harper Collins too - it should be awaiting me when I return from vacation. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts...

avisannschild said...

Hiya,

I just posted my review of So Long at the Fair hereand linked to yours...