Of the three books, I liked Abundance best. Versailles is interesting stylistically. Kathryn Davis uses vignettes, poems, bits of plays to give you an impression of Marie Antoinette's life. If you enjoy stream of consciousness, then it would be worth seeking out. I prefer more plot driven writing though, and The Hidden Diaries kind of works, but it has some doozies when it comes to historical innaccuracies. (MA consults a courtesan for relationship advice, goes on a trip to Denmark with Von Fersen, the Necklace Affaire is left out entirely...) It's fun if you take it for what it is, low calorie pop cult. Abundance falls somewhere between those two: literary, but not experimental, with a well paced plot.
I found the writing very soothing too, but the last sad parts went by so quickly that I read the last quarter all in one go. They pick up very suddenly.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2007-04-12 01:54 am (UTC)Of the three books, I liked Abundance best. Versailles is interesting stylistically. Kathryn Davis uses vignettes, poems, bits of plays to give you an impression of Marie Antoinette's life. If you enjoy stream of consciousness, then it would be worth seeking out. I prefer more plot driven writing though, and The Hidden Diaries kind of works, but it has some doozies when it comes to historical innaccuracies. (MA consults a courtesan for relationship advice, goes on a trip to Denmark with Von Fersen, the Necklace Affaire is left out entirely...) It's fun if you take it for what it is, low calorie pop cult. Abundance falls somewhere between those two: literary, but not experimental, with a well paced plot.
I found the writing very soothing too, but the last sad parts went by so quickly that I read the last quarter all in one go. They pick up very suddenly.