Marina Maxwell
  • Home
  • MMMusings
  • Blogs
  • About Me
  • My Books
  • Book Reviews
  • FAMILY TALES

Reviews

Categories

All


I read and review both historical fiction and non-fiction, but also enjoy biographies, crime and some contemporary fiction.
​ 

Please note that unless stated that I have received these books directly from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review, I either purchase my own copies or source them from my local library service. 

​Links to Amazon, Book Depository or Dymocks Australia are only for the reader's reference.
(Due to some poor experiences recently with Booktopia, from 2023 I will no longer link to them.)

My reviews for Historical Novels Review, the magazine of the Historical Novel Society, can be found online here
​

The Three Miss Allens

3/10/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture

As a bit of a nit-picker, the dodgy grammar in the title of this book astonished  me, as surely it ought to be "The Three Misses Allen"?  However, to give it the benefit of the doubt, the summary sounded interesting enough and I always try to be more tolerant of any book that can rise above its failures in editing.

There are two parallel stories here set in South Australia. We have distant cousins Roma and Addy dealing with personal issues in modern days, and three sisters, Ruby, Adeline and Clara, in the 1930s.

Recently-widowed Roma escapes to Remarkable Bay where she buys a run-down guesthouse and starts to renovate it. Between jobs in the film industry, the high- octane Addy comes to help her. Along the way they get involved with two men who are also cousins, Connor and Blake. All four individuals have links to the three Misses Allen from the 1930s, who stayed at the guesthouse but whose lives were less lucky for various complex reasons.

This is pretty much a relationships soap opera, although I personally much preferred the 1930s components as they raised more moral questions about behaviour, responsibility and family duty, unlike the pity-me self-absorbed characteristics of the modern women. The nice blokes in this story deserve a medal for putting up with them and rarely rolling their "aqua-blue" eyes in exasperation!

On the more sombre side, domestic violence is, and was, a fact of life, but I dislike reading it and usually skim such passages in print. Unfortunately, I found Addy's character to be so unlikable, foul-mouthed and inconsiderate of others that she left me borderline with sympathy for her situation.

Anyhow, I did struggle to the end knowing the modern girls would happily dance off into the surf with their Chris Hemsworth look-alikes, but was disappointed that there wasn't more of tragic Clara's story which could have had a more positive outcome than it did.

There were some glaring errors with names from the 1930s story (Ruby/Roma) being mixed up with the modern one, so this again reflects on shoddy editing at the final proof stage. 

Two-and-a-half stars.

Booktopia.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    See
    Historical Novel Society
    ​
    for my reviews of historical fiction
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • MMMusings
  • Blogs
  • About Me
  • My Books
  • Book Reviews
  • FAMILY TALES