I'm thinking this genre just isn't for me, except for my friend Catherine's wonderful story. I've just tried to read THE LADIES OF COVINGTON SEND THEIR LOVE, as part of my commitment to you, the readers--so you don't have to.
There were a few moments in this book when I thought, okay, I see the charm. But they just didn't last. In yet another example of why Louise Marley does NOT have her finger on the public pulse, I found the writing sophomoric, the story obvious and unsubtle, and the characters labored.
You need to know, though, that the book was successful enough to spawn a series, so clearly not all readers suffered my reaction. Call it boomer lit, granny lit, or Catherine's wonderful moniker elder chick lit--I'm two titles down the list now, and I'm still not getting it. (In case you missed the earlier post about this new genre, the article that inspired my search is here: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0202/p14s01-legn.html
On the other hand, on my recent trip I finally got to read Connie Willis' TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG. It made me lament once again the assertions of so many readers that they "never read science fiction." Connie's fabulous novel succeeds on every level: sophisticated prose, terrific character development, exquisite historical detail, laugh-out-loud humor, and an outstanding illumination of a scientific principle, in this case, chaos theory. It's simply tragic that Connie isn't sitting in the mainstream section with Gregory Maguire, Audrey Niffenegger, and yes, even Margaret Atwood. The reading public is missing some remarkable literature.
IMHO. Ahem.
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