Hetty Stok

I had to stop listening to this book, which was probably the fault of the reader. However the author needs to find a thesaurus and discover another word for ‘said’. The storyline was confusing and frankly quite boring. Perhaps I just don’t care about Diana.

This is an epic book with more characters than its author could handle; more ingredients than any chef could ever incorporate into one dish. In fact it is too much of a book. I couldn’t follow all the people because the author left so many of them by the wayside dying of neglect. The analogy of a plate of food is apt. Having scanned the recipe, being told of some ingredients, we are left scratching our heads wondering what became of them. The final dish has no hint of them. I wanted to care about a lost child, I wanted to identify with mother Mary and feel her loss, but I couldn’t. So much imagery and too much psycho hinting. The kid was lost and so was I.

The story had potential but there wasn’t enough background of the main characters. Who were they? What circumstances led to them being on that ship? They were dropped into the story and then dispatched quickly by the dreaded fever. The ‘midwife’, singular, which one was that? Sarah or Bridie? And does one birth event warrant the title? Which begs the question how 250 passengers only managed to have only one baby born in a 100 day voyage? Birth control? A good story, but with too many holes.

There was a lot of padding in this novel, totally unnecessary for the story. The worst was the definition of fabric or garment at the beginning of each chapter. The storyline was simple but sooo long-winded in the telling. I skimmed in the end, and the end disappointed.

The subject of this book was appealing however the novel changed midway and headed straight for the soppy mediocrity of boy meets girl. Lots of loose ends, way too much descriptive details which added nothing to the storyline, and overall a lost opportunity to write a truly good book.

The book bounced between Paris in the Second World War and pandemic-free 2022. The story of Jacques and Mathilde was riveting, the soap opera of Juliet’s life was unbelievably boring and tedious. By half way through I was skipping Juliet’s endless to-do lists and ‘will I hate him or fall madly in love’ angst. Before the final chapter I no longer even cared who the grandmothers were. A disappointing read in need of an edit.

I agree with other reviewers that there were too many thinly developed characters. And after the constant harping about an uncaring mother, the last third of the book shows her as a saint. Too many inconsistencies and unrealistic humans in this story. Book too long.