Maybe this isn’t fair, but I make it a practice to write up every book I read, even if I don’t finish it. In this case, I didn’t get very far in at all.
I liked Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic well enough to finish it even though it was a slow starter and had a frankly ridiculous concept. (At least it was original.) However, it did maintain a suspenseful atmosphere. So, I picked up The Bewitching by impulse at the library.
This story, set in two time frames and two countries, is really a slow starter.
In 1998, Minerva is a graduate student at a New England university who is having trouble getting access to the information she needs about the life of horror writer Beatrice Tremblay for her Master’s thesis. (As a former graduate student in English, I would like to point out that biography is not a usual focus of literature theses.) Oh well, unexpectedly she gets a chance to talk to the woman who has the source material she needs.
In 1908 Mexico, Minerva’s grandmother Alba lives what she considers a provincial existence and is entranced by her sophisticated but apparently ne’er-do-well uncle.
This was such a slow starter, and I thought I could foresee at least part of silly Alba’s story. Each time the novel went back in time, her story kept slowing down whatever pace the more modern story managed to accumulate. I only made it about 50 pages but decided to quit when the narrative again slowed down to a slog. I generally am patient with slow-moving novels, especially if I’m being entertained in some way, but in this case, I just didn’t feel as if my patience was going to pay off.
What? Me Read? 