I'm a big fan of the historical genre. I love to read about how things were in the past.  However, I'm not a fan of stories that feel both rushed and too long all at the same time, and Evaleen was like that for me.

It seemed to me that in an attempt to move the story along, things just happenedreallyfastomggetitdone.  If someone was unimportant to the story, they either died or were almost vegetable like.  Evaleen's relationship happened so quickly, as did her friend's labor, it was laughable, and not in a good way.  It felt to me like the more major parts of the story were escalated very fast and breezed through while the more mundane things dragged on and on and on and...

Most of the characters in this story were fairly unlikable, in my opinion.  I didn't feel like cheering Evaleen on because I never connected with her.  Her husband was worthless. Her other love interest was not strong enough to make his feelings known until very late.  Her mother seemed to lose touch with reality for no real reason that I could see. Heck, even Evaleen's children didn't seem to care about her all that much.

I realize most of the reviews here claim that this book was "inspiring," but all it really inspired me to do was read faster to get to the end.
I'm a big fan of the historical genre. I love to read about how things were in the past. However, I'm not a fan of stories that feel both rushed and too long all at the same time, and Evaleen was like that for me. It seemed to me that in an attempt to move the story along, things just happenedreallyfastomggetitdone. If someone was unimportant to the story, they either died or were almost vegetable like. Evaleen's relationship happened so quickly, as did her friend's labor, it was laughable, and not in a good way. It felt to me like the more major parts of the story were escalated very fast and breezed through while the more mundane things dragged on and on and on and... Most of the characters in this story were fairly unlikable, in my opinion. I didn't feel like cheering Evaleen on because I never connected with her. Her husband was worthless. Her other love interest was not strong enough to make his feelings known until very late. Her mother seemed to lose touch with reality for no real reason that I could see. Heck, even Evaleen's children didn't seem to care about her all that much. I realize most of the reviews here claim that this book was "inspiring," but all it really inspired me to do was read faster to get to the end.