Pigeons and busybodies and scandals, oh my!
Thoughts on the cover: I like that Olive is at the front of the cover, accompanied by her trusty bike and faithful pigeon (perhaps it is Poppins?). In the background, the village looks exactly as I had imagined it, and the cover matches the portrayal of the village in this excerpt. There is a strangely large & empty bit of space devoted to plain sky (e.g. under the author's name), and it would be nice if that area wasn't so blank. One suggestion I have regards the girl on the cover (I'm assuming it's Olive), who seems to be looking straight ahead at something we readers cannot see. I've only read the excerpt so far, but it seems like she might end up aiding the war effort in more active ways than she is right now -- maybe in the sky or with her pigeons. If so, it would be a wonderful touch for the girl on the cover to be looking, not off the page, but at the sky (or the plane in the top right-hand corner) or the pigeon. Of course, this depends on how the book goes, but it's just an observation!
Thoughts on the book: I loved the picture of everyday village life, and all of the varied, engaging characters that make it up. Olive herself is very likeable as someone who is strong and independent without being insufferably arrogant or headstrong. She wants to contribute to the war effort in substantial ways, but she also loves her family and worries about leaving them. As for the other characters, Miss Husselbee (aka the Sergeant Major) is absolutely my favorite. She's like a charming cross between Rachel Lynde (from Anne of Green Gables), Lady Catherine de Bourgh (from Pride and Prejudice), and Maggie Smith's Lady Violet Crawley (from Downton Abbey). Her physical description was wonderfully detailed and capped off with this zinger: "a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck, as if she was off to hike the Inner Hebrides instead of simply planning to terrorise a village" (12). I would love to meet someone like her, or at least get to know her more. One thing I might mention is that the representation of Olive's father in his first scene is a bit confusing, as he seems to change moods drastically in a short amount of time. He cycles through emotions from cheerful to angry to sympathetic to amused to annoyed and back to cheerful over the course of a single conversation.
There are many beautiful descriptions ("apricot clouds that crowned a pale lavender sky" (4)) and witty comments ("She's swooped in to save us feeling sorry for ourselves. Now we'll all feel superior instead" (31)) that attract the reader's attention and approval. This may not have been a conscious decision, but I also appreciated the author's many literary references (Watson and Sherlock, Mary Poppins, Pride and Prejudice, Agatha Christie maybe even Peter Pan?).
Finally, the excerpt ends at the beginning of a mystery, and I have so many questions that demand to be answered. Who is Margaret? What happened to Emory Hammond and why is Violet Hammond back in town? How will Olive contribute to the war effort more? What will happen to George? For all of these reasons, I want to read more!
Thoughts on the book: I loved the picture of everyday village life, and all of the varied, engaging characters that make it up. Olive herself is very likeable as someone who is strong and independent without being insufferably arrogant or headstrong. She wants to contribute to the war effort in substantial ways, but she also loves her family and worries about leaving them. As for the other characters, Miss Husselbee (aka the Sergeant Major) is absolutely my favorite. She's like a charming cross between Rachel Lynde (from Anne of Green Gables), Lady Catherine de Bourgh (from Pride and Prejudice), and Maggie Smith's Lady Violet Crawley (from Downton Abbey). Her physical description was wonderfully detailed and capped off with this zinger: "a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck, as if she was off to hike the Inner Hebrides instead of simply planning to terrorise a village" (12). I would love to meet someone like her, or at least get to know her more. One thing I might mention is that the representation of Olive's father in his first scene is a bit confusing, as he seems to change moods drastically in a short amount of time. He cycles through emotions from cheerful to angry to sympathetic to amused to annoyed and back to cheerful over the course of a single conversation.
There are many beautiful descriptions ("apricot clouds that crowned a pale lavender sky" (4)) and witty comments ("She's swooped in to save us feeling sorry for ourselves. Now we'll all feel superior instead" (31)) that attract the reader's attention and approval. This may not have been a conscious decision, but I also appreciated the author's many literary references (Watson and Sherlock, Mary Poppins, Pride and Prejudice, Agatha Christie maybe even Peter Pan?).
Finally, the excerpt ends at the beginning of a mystery, and I have so many questions that demand to be answered. Who is Margaret? What happened to Emory Hammond and why is Violet Hammond back in town? How will Olive contribute to the war effort more? What will happen to George? For all of these reasons, I want to read more!