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By: CHCH 020
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2025-06-10 20:22:02 |
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There was unanimous agreement it was cleverly written and the story within a story format engaging. Lots of discussion around the way emotional health was damaged by war and the methods of treating or dealing with it, or not. We admired Elizabeth for her warmth and wisdom and couldn't help but like Lucky as his character developed. We remembered the whale and tried to imagine whereabouts in ChCh the house was sited in our city. Some of us had read Carl Nixon's other books and we all look forward to reading his next one. |
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By: NAP 005
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2025-05-19 21:02:10 |
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Our group found the writing style irritating and the narrator’s intrusion in the story annoying. However, we found the setting in Christchurch after WWI interesting, and the depiction of women’s emancipation and the class divide at the time done well. |
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By: OTORO 002
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2025-05-07 13:18:44 |
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Lovely, easy read - some people loved the 'story within a story' narrative style, while others were annoyed by the narrator interupting the flow. |
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By: TAUR 015
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2024-07-10 10:13:09 |
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We all enjoyed this book. We thought it was well constructed with the stories within a story, and the characters were sympathetic and well drawn/written. We will be taking out more Carl Nixon books! The story of Elizabeth, Lucky, Mrs Blackwell, and the Balloonist were all poignantly told and the narrator was a good device. |
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By: NELS 075
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2023-07-10 11:55:31 |
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A terrifically well told story, enjoyed by all our group! |
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By: BALCL 001
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2022-04-29 11:13:29 |
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A very popular read with our group. Very much enjoyed the author's style of writing. Several members enjoyed the references to Christchurch, and one or two remembered the whale on display at the museum. Imaginatively told with empathy and candour - a topic that had much sadness from the war, but a tale that was much more likely to make you smile and cheer for the underdog. |
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By: CHCH 396
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2021-11-05 10:09:23 |
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Feelings ran lukewarm among our group - even though we live in Christchurch! Most members disliked the structure of the book, didn't like the tale of the balloonist and took a strong aversion to the book cover! |
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By: CHCH 225
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2021-11-05 10:06:50 |
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We all really enjoyed this book. Well-written and good characterisation, with a Christchurch setting - made it more interesting. |
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By: TOKO 001
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2021-11-05 10:04:26 |
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Varied responses from our members. Some found the relationship between Elizbeth and Lucky beautifully constructed, however some of the later parts of the novel seemed forced. |
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By: WHAKA 010
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2021-11-03 14:51:13 |
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A good read but a disappointing ending; and we found the Dr. a weak and frustrating character! |
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By: WHITIAN 002
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2021-11-03 14:50:05 |
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Excellent feedback from our group, without exception. Some wanting to read more from this author. |
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By: PAPA 001
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2021-11-03 14:48:47 |
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Mixed reviews. This novel created a heated discussion on "fiction versus fact". Some loved it - some felt it was two improbable stories. Some liked the author's voice, others felt the author's voice interfered with the flow. Was it really based on fact Is it pure fiction Insightful regarding mental illness and treatment. |
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By: AUCK 279
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2021-11-03 14:45:18 |
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Excellent book - enjoyed by everybody. |
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By: OTAKI 001
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2021-11-03 14:44:42 |
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Everyone enjoyed this read - some members went straight to the local library ( after completing the novel) to find more of this author's works. Wonderful characters and a great story with meaningful links to our country's history ( war...treatment of mentally ill...social status.) We had mixed feelings about the author's 'asides' to the reader. Some loved them. Others found them intrusive. Book notes were excellent. |
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By: TARARU 001
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2021-11-03 14:39:46 |
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Generally well received, and much discussion around the questions. Great to read a NZ author. |
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By: AUCK 021
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2021-11-01 15:01:31 |
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We all loved this book. |
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By: WHANGA 003
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2021-11-01 15:00:42 |
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Our whole group enjoyed reading this book. It was very cleverly woven together. We couldn't quite work out why the "Virgin' and not just a girl. |
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By: MAST 005
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2021-09-15 16:00:43 |
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All our group loved this book. The NZ setting was familiar and obviously Christchurch. The story well thought out and beautifully constructed from the original. A story within a story. Characters were believable and Elizabeth very empathetic and brave in following her ideals as well as coping with her grief. We discussed the ordeals & mental health of WW1 & WW2 soldiers and lack of support on their return. 'A love story' on the cover was a spoiler we thought. |
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By: AUCK 302
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2019-11-13 11:37:32 |
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We loved it - gorgeous NZ setting. |
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By: WHANG 015
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2019-02-15 13:54:54 |
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Some mixed feelings among the group about this book. All agreed that the descriptions of the casualties of war and their rehabilitation were based on extensive research and were very credible. The main characters were well-rounded, and Elizabeth in particular struck a chord with her kindness to Lucky (and others) and her bravery in standing up for her patients in the face of the male-dominated medical establishment. |
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By: CHCH 033
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2019-02-15 13:44:36 |
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A very enjoyable read! Elizabeth was strong and well portrayed. The extra story within a story, we thought, was well done and certainly added to our enjoyment in reading. We all live in Christchurch so it was very apt, and two of us were enthralled to discuss it having seen the whale skeleton as children. Great writing. An excellent read!! |
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By: WANAK 001
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2019-02-15 13:37:22 |
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All enjoyed the book. It was simple tale but well told, with many extra facets and threads. |
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By: CHCH 113
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2019-02-15 13:29:56 |
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We didn't really like the author's 'asides', he verbalized his thought processes about the story, and we felt that this distracted us from the plot, and we could have done without this. However everyone loved the Christchurch angle, and all appreciated his descriptions of the city. |
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By: LOWER 002
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2019-02-15 13:26:39 |
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Most found the book an easy read, and enjoyable. Our 'Christchurch' members were especially interested in ticking off the locations they recognised - though some others felt that the conceit of renaming the city was pointless and a bit of a distraction... A good yarn was overshadowed a bit by the 'tale within a tale within a tale', but even so led to plenty of discussion about memory, war and the status of women at the time of WWI. |
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By: TURA 001
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2019-02-15 13:18:55 |
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Great story. Everyone enjoyed it very much. |
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By: AUCK 364
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2019-02-15 13:18:02 |
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Most of the group really enjoyed this book. |
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By: WELL 036
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2019-02-15 13:17:06 |
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Our group enjoyed this book - the construction is very clever and creative. We especially found it relevant with the current WWI centennial remembrance, and how we are more 'savvy' about PTSD/shell shock now. |
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By: TAUR 035
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2018-07-19 09:36:21 |
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We thought the book was easy to read and was deceptively simple, managing to cover many deep and thoughtful subjects. We found it very cleverly constructed and felt the narrator's interjections did help to keep the book taut. We did wonder whether the title was apt. Overall a very good response to the book and we found it an interesting insight to life in NZ after WW1. We were slightly critical of the questions - our own discussion was much more interesting and to the point. But the notes preceding were very good. And most of us were looking forward to trying more titles from this author. |
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