Title: Show, don't tell.
Product review: I suppose there are Oprah readers and non-Oprah readers. If I had known, in fact, that this was one of Oprah's choices I would probably have avoided it. I'm not sure when a dark and complex plot became enough to recommend a book, but I wish it hadn't happened. DROWNING RUTH gave me no one to love, no one to follow. The point of view changes so often that I lost contact with all the characters. In addition, a number of important plot points are told in narrative, rather than in dramatic scenes. It's frustrating, and it's dull.A far superior novel is Philippa Gregory's 1993 book FALLEN SKIES, set in about the same period. Gregory is masterful in her presentation, and she doesn't tell us anything. According to Hemingway's dictum, she shows it all.
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