Whatever new and interesting Zarr had in her version - mainly Lucy's inappropriate relationships with older men - never materialized into anything tangible and punchy. I never finished Virtuosity, but these two novels sound fairly similar - artistic girls in creative and personal crisis and all that. 3rd person POV added nothing to the narrative (it is a very close 3rd person, with only Lucy's perspective used, we never get insight into any other character's mind) and added unnecessary feeling of detachment to the story.Īs for everything else, while the book was still enjoyable to a degree, the plot felt a bit stale. I am still scratching my head in an effort to understand why Zarr chose to write this new novel this way. It was a challenge for the author herself (she talked about this in her blog post), and the challenge, in my opinion, not well met in this case. The thing I disliked the most about this novel is its POV, specifically its 3rd person POV instead of Zarr's signature 1st. This is the case with The Lucy Variations I think. But sometimes when they try something new, it just doesn't work as well as the old. Generally, it's a good thing when authors try to experiment and explore new points of view and styles of writing. Pardon me for repeating what has already been said. It appears the three of us ( Catie, Flannery and I) are pretty much on the same page as to why this new Sara Zarr novel didn't work for us. I also knew the feeling of missing these things you did in the past and now, after some time, you want to do it again for yourself alone and not for the others. That, it feels like they are grabbing away your right to be normal, to do normal things. I may not be fully connected to the classical music on this book but I am sure I knew the feeling of being stucked in doing a specific thing for your family because they wanted it for you.
It also has an almost forbidden romance that has been treated and handled properly. Which were accumulated and delivered very well by the author. This book has family drama, the elements of dreams being shattered into pieces, disappointments, jealousy, exploitation and the joy of getting on the right but different track. Reading this book is like being surrounded by different emotions. Her novels I've read were moving, uplifting and very much realistic. Sara Zarr wrote about life issues and she was really good at it. It's contagious, too, that made me get attached or connected with them in any way possible. I mean I can feel with my heart the genuine emotions these characters carry with them, either it's joy or grief.
What I love about Sara Zarr is how she can manage to fully reveal her characters emotionally.
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