I received a free copy of Finding Colin Firth by Mia March to review from Netgalley. It is set in the same town as her previous work The Meryl Streep Movie Club, on which I cannot comment as I have not yet had the chance to read it. Finding Colin Firth is a sweet story of three women drawn together in a Maine town connected by a theme of unplanned pregnancy and its impact on their lives. The theme of giving up a child is also explored through other characters in the novel. There are frequent references to characters being adopted, looking to adopt or working with young pregnant teens. It is most fully explored, however, through the three main characters. Bea and Veronica are connected through the fact that Veronica gave birth to Bea as a young woman and gave her up for adoption. The novel explores their tentatively establishing a connection with each other. Gemma, on the other hand, is struggling to deal with the realisation that she is expecting a child, and is uncertain how to deal with it despite being happily married.The subject is dealt with compassionately, and the characters are very likeable. What I liked…
This is not the usual kind of book I read, but Random House was kind enough to give me a free review copy. I found it to be a very well written, gentle read and did enjoy it. I personally wasn’t very familiar with the culture of South Asia, but I felt the author did an excellent job of making it comprehensible to an outsider without over explaining. It was easy to become drawn into Meterling’s world on Pi and understand the expectations that were on her as well as to understand the consequences her decisions might have. As I am not from that culture, the importance placed on, for example, compatible horoscopes in marriage partners is foreign to me, but due to the excellent writing, I could easily understand its impact within Meterling’s family. This is also a book of well-drawn contrasts and conflicts. I found it interesting to compare and contrast the viewpoint of the children to Meterling’s situation to Meterling’s own thoughts. A nice contrast is also set up between the colour, warmth and friendliness of Pi and the cold, greyness of London. This ties in well to Meterling’s emotional state at the time as she attempts…