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Kaz (232 KP) rated Oh Dear Silvia in Books
May 15, 2019
'Silvia Shute lies in a hospital bed. Family and friends are at her side, each thinking they know the real Silvia. But do they? For Silvia hides a secret. And as her visitors gather, so the truth about Silvia is slowly revealed...'
My Thoughts:
I had never read anything by Dawn French (for anyone who doesn't know who she is, she is a famous British comedian, best known as one half of comedy duo French and Saunders) before reading 'Oh Dear Silvia' and to be honest, I had low expectations of it.
It's not that I didn't like Dawn French, I think she is a very funny woman. However with there being a current trend of celebrities writing cheesy, badly written chick-lit and selling copies because of their names alone, I thought this was going to be the same. Thankfully, I was wrong.
The writing is this book is very good. The descriptions are, at times, beautiful and each of the characters are believable and diverse. Even though the main character doesn't utter a single word throughout the book, I still felt that I knew her because of the other characters and their complex relationships with each other. One of the characters, Silvia's sister Jo, for me felt like a bit of cartoon character at the beginning. There is a scene involving her in the book, which I felt didn't fit in with the tone of the story, but I still laughed at it though. As the book progressed though, I did warm to her.
The pace of the book was slow, but I felt that this was effective, because it allowed the story to unfold at a natural pace. Towards the end, however, one of the more sinister elements of the plot, was concluded slightly quicker and in more lighthearted way, than it should have been. In my opinion, this could have been dealt with better and with more impact.
Overall, I'm glad that I read this book because on the whole, it's written with sensitivity and subtle wit. I look forward to reading more of Dawn French's novels in the future.
My Rating ****