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A review by jenbsbooks
No. 23 Burlington Square by Jenni Keer
4.25
I really enjoyed this. I think I just stumbled upon this one ... I currently have a KindleUnlimited membership and saw this had audio available via Hoopla (I like having the text and the audio). I'm not sure if I even read the blurb - so I went in blind.
Had I looked at the blurb, I wouldn't have been as surprised at the alternate timelines (which I figured out when Part 2/Stephen Thompson started up). I had glanced at the TOC, so I saw there were multiple sections, each showcasing the three tenant possibilities (Clara, Stephen, Mercy) plus a Prologue (with two chapters in it, rare!), a part for Agnes, and an Epilogue.
I was a tad confused when Agnes chose Clara as the tenant, as the prologue focused more on Mercy ... I thought for sure she would be the pick. Which she was ... in part 3.
There have been several favorite stories with alternate timelines, the "what if" possibilities, however they come about (the Middle Falls series, where a person dies and wakes up as their younger self to relive life and make different choices, The Midnight Library, where other life possibilities are viewed/lived, Dark Matter/alternate universes branching off). Here, there was no event or explanation ... just a "if this happened - this happened, if that happened - here's a slightly different story. As it says in the prologue as Agnes is wondering who she should pick "this simple decision could potentially alter the fates of everyone involved. Three very different choices. Three very different paths the lives of all at the house could take." It was interesting to have the different paths come out in the story - nothing supernatural at all, and yet how much this choice could realistically affect all involved. While is seems a little overboard to say "she was playing God with these people's lives" ... it's really so true.
I'm a TOC snob - I liked that the chapters ran chronologically, not starting over in each section. There were some chapter headings, giving a date or a tidbit of info, but that was only on a couple. Those extras WERE included in the audio TOC, but not the Kindle copy. One of the early headers "The China Doll" on Chapter 7 strayed from Clara's story, to a flashback on Agnes's younger years. This happened a few times in the Stephen section - Chapter 32 "The Small Painting of a Coffee Plantation" (that header was NOT included in the audio TOC like "The China Doll" was ... inconsistent! Same for Ch38 "The Pile of Dusty Newspapers" ... if the TOC listed these, it would be easier to go back to quickly review the "Agnes inserts" in the other storylines, they really SHOULD be included in the TOC).
All three tenants, Clara, Stephen and Mercy, have secrets. As their individual sections unfolded, we (the reader) learned what they were hiding. We got to know them, empathize a little with them. Complex characters, in that they weren't all bad or all good - so many shades of gray here.
It was also interesting to see some of the background storylines, and how they changed in the different situations.
This could make for an interesting book club discussion.
I was mostly listening, but had the Kindle copy open at a few spots where I felt like highlighting passages ...
*pretending to be happy was the next best thing to actually being happy.
*It wasn’t that his path had come to an end, more that he had chosen to deliberately step from it.
*the simple act of lifting his cheeks to form a grin also lifted his heart
*I don’t have much time for those who consume excessive amounts of alcohol for it’s a self-destructive path
*the anticipation of giving a gift could outweigh the thrill of receiving one yourself
... and interesting discussion of telling lies to make people feel better (chapter 59) - saying religion does that too.
No proFanity. Possible Triggers ... I read this in June/PrideMonth, and GoodReads does have an LGBTQ tag on it, as that is a pretty big part of one of the storylines. Some discussion of war injuries. Suicide.
Other words I note - Deign, Seldom, Scowl
Had I looked at the blurb, I wouldn't have been as surprised at the alternate timelines (which I figured out when Part 2/Stephen Thompson started up). I had glanced at the TOC, so I saw there were multiple sections, each showcasing the three tenant possibilities (Clara, Stephen, Mercy) plus a Prologue (with two chapters in it, rare!), a part for Agnes, and an Epilogue.
I was a tad confused when Agnes chose Clara as the tenant, as the prologue focused more on Mercy ... I thought for sure she would be the pick. Which she was ... in part 3.
There have been several favorite stories with alternate timelines, the "what if" possibilities, however they come about (the Middle Falls series, where a person dies and wakes up as their younger self to relive life and make different choices, The Midnight Library, where other life possibilities are viewed/lived, Dark Matter/alternate universes branching off). Here, there was no event or explanation ... just a "if this happened - this happened, if that happened - here's a slightly different story. As it says in the prologue as Agnes is wondering who she should pick "this simple decision could potentially alter the fates of everyone involved. Three very different choices. Three very different paths the lives of all at the house could take." It was interesting to have the different paths come out in the story - nothing supernatural at all, and yet how much this choice could realistically affect all involved. While is seems a little overboard to say "she was playing God with these people's lives" ... it's really so true.
I'm a TOC snob - I liked that the chapters ran chronologically, not starting over in each section. There were some chapter headings, giving a date or a tidbit of info, but that was only on a couple. Those extras WERE included in the audio TOC, but not the Kindle copy. One of the early headers "The China Doll" on Chapter 7 strayed from Clara's story, to a flashback on Agnes's younger years. This happened a few times in the Stephen section - Chapter 32 "The Small Painting of a Coffee Plantation" (that header was NOT included in the audio TOC like "The China Doll" was ... inconsistent! Same for Ch38 "The Pile of Dusty Newspapers" ... if the TOC listed these, it would be easier to go back to quickly review the "Agnes inserts" in the other storylines, they really SHOULD be included in the TOC).
All three tenants, Clara, Stephen and Mercy, have secrets. As their individual sections unfolded, we (the reader) learned what they were hiding. We got to know them, empathize a little with them. Complex characters, in that they weren't all bad or all good - so many shades of gray here.
It was also interesting to see some of the background storylines, and how they changed in the different situations.
This could make for an interesting book club discussion.
I was mostly listening, but had the Kindle copy open at a few spots where I felt like highlighting passages ...
*pretending to be happy was the next best thing to actually being happy.
*It wasn’t that his path had come to an end, more that he had chosen to deliberately step from it.
*the simple act of lifting his cheeks to form a grin also lifted his heart
*I don’t have much time for those who consume excessive amounts of alcohol for it’s a self-destructive path
*the anticipation of giving a gift could outweigh the thrill of receiving one yourself
... and interesting discussion of telling lies to make people feel better (chapter 59) - saying religion does that too.
No proFanity. Possible Triggers ... I read this in June/PrideMonth, and GoodReads does have an LGBTQ tag on it, as that is a pretty big part of one of the storylines. Some discussion of war injuries. Suicide.
Other words I note - Deign, Seldom, Scowl