The Dream Lover

Note: I was given an e-copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for reviewing it. As always, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was very anxious to dive into the Elizabeth Berg's novel The Dream Lover: A Novel of George Sand as I've been a fan of Berg. However, I have to say I was disappointed in this book. Mind you, it's not terrible - the book is okay, but it's not the book I expected from Berg.

This book is a historical fiction novel around the life of Aurore Dupin, a Paris author in the 1800's who wrote under the pen name of George Sands. It is clear to me that while Berg has taken liberties with telling Sand's story, Berg also did a lot of research into her life as well.

The first part of the book is split between two time lines. We flash back and forth between Aurore's childhood and then her early adulthood years. Eventually, the two time lines catch up and the book just moves forward from there.

The book felt slow to start to me. Unfortunately, I can't say I was hooked from the beginning. Though, it did get better as the book moved along - certain parts of the story line were more intriguing than others and those moved along quite well for me - Aurore's time with Maria Duval and Chopin.

I also wasn't a fan of the back and forth of her childhood and adulthood. Though, some of the parts of her childhood were important to the rest of the story and needed to be included I just wasn't a fan of the format.

That said, it was intriguing to learn about George Sand - even if parts are fictionalized. The life of a woman in 1800's France - with divorce being illegal, how Aurore walked around in men's clothing, and had many affairs. She achieved a sexual revolution that I think most people in 1960's of America were looking for. And through it all, the gossip, the scandal, the love found and lost and found and lost, she was France's first best-selling female author.

Her life is definitely worth looking at, and learning about. And while I didn't give this book 5 stars, I am glad I read it. And I think it is worth reading to learn a bit more about Aurore, aka, George Sands.

Knit in Comfort

Knit in Comfort by Isabel Sharp

Finished May 11, 2010
3 stars

*Please note, I was given this book to review from LibraryThing through their LibraryThing Early Reviewers (LTER) program, which has absolutely nothing to do at all with this blog.


Knit in Comfort was a quick, interesting read.

Elizabeth, a young women from New York, travels to Comfort, North Carolina based on a dream in which she thinks her grandma tells her too. There she meets Megan - a wife and mother from who she rents a room.
Elizabeth views Megan's life as perfect and wonderful and the dream life she wants. However, Elizabeth doesn't realize that Megan, like everyone, is not in fact living a fairy tale and that looks can be deceiving.
But what brings them together - along with some other women in town - is knitting. And through knitting, they are able to work through some of the issues they are facing.
While learning about Megan and Elizabeth and the women in Comfort, Sharpe also draws us in with the story of Gillian and Fiona, which takes place in the early 1900's on the Shetland Island. Fiona is a relative of Megan's and so we learn part of Megan's family's history as we learn about Megan.

As a knitter I was quite drawn to the talk of knitting - and the mention of the gorgeous lace knitting that Megan (and her family) does. I'm not sure what drew me in more - thinking about the beautiful lace knitting they referred to or the story honestly. I wished more than once this was a picture book or a movie or something similar. I'm positive the description of the lace knitting just didn't do it justice at all!

Also, as an aside, she mentions working on acre lace several times and for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is, so if you know, please please tell me LOL!