Do You like book Billie's Kiss (2003)?
I only got through 50 pages, so I have little meat for a review. Suffice it to say the writing was bloated with self-importance, the dialogue was choppy, the scenes were brief, & the tone was distant. I suspect these things are meant to translate into "nuanced characterization" & "exploring the depths of human experience" & other academic twaddle. Heck, maybe they do translate to nuanced characterization & exploration of the depths of human experience -- but I'm not the person to confirm or deny such psychological worth. My own philosophy is thus: academic twaddle like this translates into Bad Literary Fiction, thereby earning a one-way ticket to the DNF tag o' doom.Goodbye, bookshelf -- hello, Paperback Swap.
—Sarah
Booklist says: "Set in Scotland in 1903, Knox's novel begins with an explosion--literally. Billie Paxton is traveling with her pregnant sister, Edith, and Edith's husband, Henry, to Stolnsay, where Henry is to be employed by Lord Hallowhulme as a secretary. After Billie shares an impulsive kiss with Henry on the deck of the ship on which they are traveling, she leaps into the sea. Immediately after she jumps, a bomb goes off, and the ship sinks, killing many of the passengers, including Edith. Lord Hallowhulme takes both Billie and Henry in. Lord Hallowhulme's cousin, the handsome, standoffish Murdo Hesketh, was also aboard the ship and is determined to discover the cause of the explosion. At first, he suspects Billie, leading to animosity between the two but also the rise of an undeniable attraction. Murdo doggedly pursues the mystery of the bomb until he comes to a conclusion that surprises even him. Knox's third novel is both ambitious and accomplished, vividly evoking turn-of-the-century Scotland. Her characters are unique and yet somehow familiar, in the sense that they are reminiscent of famous characters in Victorian literature. Filled with rich language and buoyed by a compelling story, this novel should have a wide appeal."
—Nanci