A great disappointment. Russell's prose seduces, but keeps the reader trapped in the stagnant-waters called plot. Consider the book a character study of three siblings who deal with their mother's death and father's absence (he leaves the kids to fend for themselves as he works on the mainland). Although it is not a particularly uplifting book, Russell resorts to the unsatisfying convention of deus ex machina: everyone is reunited on the mainland. (Reunited , to paraphrase a corny 70s song, and it feels so good.) But the reader closes the book feeling bedraggled and cheated--not so good.
(November 2011)
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