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ClareR (6091 KP) rated Bone China in Books

Aug 19, 2019  
Bone China
Bone China
Laura Purcell | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bone China by Laura Purcell is a gothic novel set in Cornwall. Hester Why has travelled to Cornwall to take up a post as a Lady’s maid - and also to escape her past. But if she thinks she’s going to have an easy time of it, she has another thing coming! Morvoren House has its own secrets, not helped by the very strange Creeda, who believes that fairies will spirit Miss Rosewyn (the ward of Miss Pinecroft, the elderly woman that Hester is looking after) away.

We also get to see some of Hester’s past before Cornwall - and the reason why she has ended up in Morvoren House; and that of Louise, some 40 years before Hester’s arrival.

Unsurprisingly, bone china features prominently in this story, and I was delighted to hear the story of the willow pattern again - a story that my own grandmother used to tell me when showing me her willow pattern tea service.

Louise’s story tells of the time after her mother and siblings have died of phthisis (or tuberculosis), and her father, who was a doctor, deciding that he will find a cure for it. Prisoners from the local prison are kept in caves beneath the house, the theory being that the fresh air would strengthen their lungs. I know! Horrifying!!

I didn’t find the jumping between timelines at all confusing, and I really enjoyed the way it did this. The unreliability of Hester’s narrative due to gin and laudanum was also really well done. I never knew if what was happening was due to the gin, laudanum, actual reality or the fairies!

And the landscape and sights of Cornwall were beautifully described. I love Cornwall - it’s one of my most favourite places. The rawness of the coast is a pleasure to read about, and instantly took me to the cliffs by the sea.

I tried to make this book last longer, but had no luck at all because I was desperate to know what was going to happen! And that ending - I’m still in shock!!!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this completely absorbing book! It was a pleasure to read.
  
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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Tammy (2014) in Movies

Jun 19, 2019  
Tammy (2014)
Tammy (2014)
2014 | Comedy
5
4.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Life for Tammy (Melissa McCarthy) is a struggle in frustration. She is an outspoken individual who is not shy about speaking her mind and acting out which is often as trouble seems to follow her everywhere.

Following one particularly bad morning, Tammy decides to move away from Illinois once and for all and when her mother offers her no real encouragement, Tammy takes to the road with her grandmother (Susan Sarandon).

Despite her health issues and love for the bottle, Tammy is happy to have the company as she admires the free spirit of her grandmother who wants to have an adventure and live life to the fullest at all times.

Of course trouble seems to find Tammy and before long she has to deal with a slew of problems as well as the increasingly self destructive behavior of her grandmother.

Complications arise when a farmer named Bobby (Mark Duplass), and his father Earl (Gary Cole), enter into the picture to provide distractions to the ladies and to make them start to see the consequences of their action.

Throw in short but solid supporting work from Kathy Bates and Dan Aykroyd, and this film should have been a laugh filled riot. Instead it stays in the bittersweet range far more than it does comedy, as many of the best jokes in the film were shown in the trailer.

I credit McCarthy, who along with Ben Falcone wrote the film, for trying to move beyond the manic comedies that she has done prior. The film is marketed as more of the same but it is not. The film drags in places as you keep waiting for the laughs to come and when they do it is very sporadic. Instead the focus in on emotions, life, and being accountable as well as other heady topics it is just a shame that McCarthy keeps having to play the lovable loser parts as to be honest they are starting to get old. I joked to my wife that a prison in the film looked much like the one in “Identity Thief”.

The film attempts to combine a buddy road trip with some deeper human issues but this is not “Thelma and Louise”, and it does seem that despite the best efforts of all involved, we have seen this trip many times before and it is one that did not need to be taken again.

http://sknr.net/2014/07/02/tammy/