Susan Settles Down
by Molly Clavering
Blurb:
Young Susan Parsons has just moved, with her unmarried brother Oliver, to a newly-inherited property in the Scottish Highlands. Their neighbors prove a mixed bag, including the towering, kindly Jed Armstrong, a farmer whose land 'marches with' theirs, the local vicar and his family, and the three gossipy Pringle sisters, who travel by donkey-drawn cart and get their knives into one and all. After a bumpy start, with a disagreeable cook and her nincompoop daughter as their only help, Susan and Oliver begin to settle in nicely, and find themselves in the midst of romance, confusion, and earthy hilarity.
My Reaction:
On the whole, I enjoyed this book. It's a calm story set very firmly in reality. A gentle book, which is very nice in some ways. On the other hand, because it is so gentle and calm, it didn't really grip me and compel me to read longer or faster. If you're in the mood for something steady and not particularly dramatic, this would be a good choice— particularly if you like British books written and set "between the wars".
There were things I didn't like so much, too, however:
- The nearly indecipherable presentation of certain characters' Scottish accent/dialect. You can get the gist, but it's not easy!
- The saccharine, "oh-aren't-they-adorable" children. Fortunately, they're not in the book much.
- The part of the story with Jo-ann. Maybe it was meant to add realism or gravity to the tale, but it felt oddly out of place to me.
- The fact that the romance was split between two couples. It cut down on the time for either to develop fully. Eh, not bad, but could have been better.
I don't really care for Oliver, to tell the truth, and it's fairly obvious for most of the book exactly how things will end—but that's okay with me. In some types of books, predictability is not a flaw, but part of the appeal.
It does have some entertaining elements, though, and some of the descriptive passages are a pleasure to read.
I'd give it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 and would consider reading more by the author.
