A Passage to India - EM Forster

57%
08.06.14

I'm sure I've read this before, probably 20 years ago when I thought EM Forster was the poster boy for early-20th century society skewering. But tastes change. While this is an angry dissection of the corrosive effect of colonialism, it's also a product of its time - wordy, philosophical, trapped in cultural expectations. Angry's fine but these days I like my social criticism direct.

The Diary of an Ordinary Woman - Margaret Forster

 61%
 16.02.08



It started out promisingly, with an engaging central character (who is, of course, by no means ordinary) and well researched segments of early 20th century life. But as time passes, things become disjointed and the story of the life less consistent. Perhaps this is intentional, but it makes for an unsatisfactory ending.

The Memory Box - Margaret Forster

26.08.05
47%

Unsympathetic main characters can be interesting and charismatic. Not in this book, unfortunately. A grumpy woman discovers that the mother she doesn't remember was also quite grumpy. So not even much of a plot.