Community Reviews
Can't wait for "A Slant of Light - Part 2"!
Story/plot: 3.75 stars
The plot had so much promise - a farmer returning from the civil war finds that his hired hand and wife have ruined his farm and run away together. The book opens with the confrontation between Malcom Hopeton and Amos Wheeler - resulting in violence. The surviving witness, Harlan Davis, is pulled into the efforts to save Hopeton from hanging. The backdrop to all of this is the religious fervor /cults that were pertinent in the late 1800s. I feel like that the story took a lot of different tributaries, and most dead-ended.
Writing: 5 stars
It's hard to describe Lent's writing style except to say that it sets the scene and brings you into the time and place. His descriptions are filled with details that paint a vivid picture, but not so much so that your thoughts drift off to another place. His dialog and inner voice/thoughts are written as if you are in 1865, but not so much to make it difficult to read. The turn of a phrase is so appropriate, yet has you wondering how he learned it or maybe he invented it, but if he did, then it was too bad that it wasn't truly used back then.
Characters: 3 stars
I found the character development somewhat lacking in this book. The reader is given a good idea of who Hopeton is and what his motivations are, but there are a lot of characters in the book that leave you scratching your head. Also a lot that have more than a cameo, but less than a supporting role, and I felt that I was left hanging or wondering why they were introduced just to not have much in the way of adding to the story. The religious figures are an example - they are discussed as if the reader would already know about them, where as they could have used a full history lesson - especially on "The Friend" who is both a person and a religion which I came to realize was Quakers, but didn't at first. Hopeton's wife, Bethany, is a major player in the story, yet the reader is given all of the equivalent of 5 pages of character development, which a good part is when she and Hopeton "court" (if you can call it that).
Learning: 3.5 stars
This book is not historical fiction, but it is historical, and I'm sure the descriptions of farming and cooking/food prep, etc. is very factual. As mentioned above, there was a missed opportunity to share more about the religious factions.
Ending: 0 stars
I don't think that I've ever been more disappointed in an ending of a book than I was with this one. I honestly thought that I was only half to three quarters of the way through this book when it abruptly ends. I've said many times that I don't need the ending of a book to be all wrapped up. I even like being left to wonder about characters and what may have befallen them, but this left so many lose ends, you could have knitted a scarf with them. I can only hope that there is a "Slant of Light - Part 2" in the works to pick up where this left off. Otherwise, I feel that the end of this book ruined the rest of it for me.
Overall/Entertainment: I've given the book 4 starts because it's worth reading just for Lent's writing. I scanned other reviews, and not many else seemed to bother most readers, so maybe it won't for you either.
Story/plot: 3.75 stars
The plot had so much promise - a farmer returning from the civil war finds that his hired hand and wife have ruined his farm and run away together. The book opens with the confrontation between Malcom Hopeton and Amos Wheeler - resulting in violence. The surviving witness, Harlan Davis, is pulled into the efforts to save Hopeton from hanging. The backdrop to all of this is the religious fervor /cults that were pertinent in the late 1800s. I feel like that the story took a lot of different tributaries, and most dead-ended.
Writing: 5 stars
It's hard to describe Lent's writing style except to say that it sets the scene and brings you into the time and place. His descriptions are filled with details that paint a vivid picture, but not so much so that your thoughts drift off to another place. His dialog and inner voice/thoughts are written as if you are in 1865, but not so much to make it difficult to read. The turn of a phrase is so appropriate, yet has you wondering how he learned it or maybe he invented it, but if he did, then it was too bad that it wasn't truly used back then.
Characters: 3 stars
I found the character development somewhat lacking in this book. The reader is given a good idea of who Hopeton is and what his motivations are, but there are a lot of characters in the book that leave you scratching your head. Also a lot that have more than a cameo, but less than a supporting role, and I felt that I was left hanging or wondering why they were introduced just to not have much in the way of adding to the story. The religious figures are an example - they are discussed as if the reader would already know about them, where as they could have used a full history lesson - especially on "The Friend" who is both a person and a religion which I came to realize was Quakers, but didn't at first. Hopeton's wife, Bethany, is a major player in the story, yet the reader is given all of the equivalent of 5 pages of character development, which a good part is when she and Hopeton "court" (if you can call it that).
Learning: 3.5 stars
This book is not historical fiction, but it is historical, and I'm sure the descriptions of farming and cooking/food prep, etc. is very factual. As mentioned above, there was a missed opportunity to share more about the religious factions.
Ending: 0 stars
I don't think that I've ever been more disappointed in an ending of a book than I was with this one. I honestly thought that I was only half to three quarters of the way through this book when it abruptly ends. I've said many times that I don't need the ending of a book to be all wrapped up. I even like being left to wonder about characters and what may have befallen them, but this left so many lose ends, you could have knitted a scarf with them. I can only hope that there is a "Slant of Light - Part 2" in the works to pick up where this left off. Otherwise, I feel that the end of this book ruined the rest of it for me.
Overall/Entertainment: I've given the book 4 starts because it's worth reading just for Lent's writing. I scanned other reviews, and not many else seemed to bother most readers, so maybe it won't for you either.
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