Talking to the Dead by Helen Dunmore

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Pages: 300
Genre: Fiction
Series: No
Publication Date: 1996


Synopsis (From Inside Cover):

Nina and Isabel are the closest of sister, bound together since childhood by the devastating, sudden death of their baby brother. The two women have created very different lives for themselves. Dark, sensual Nina works as a London-based freelance photographer, and beautiful remote Isabel has married and retreated to country life. But when Isabel give birth to her first child, and Nina comes to help look after her, images from the hidden past rush back. The new baby is so like the brother who died in his crib twenty-five years before...

Against the backdrop of the hottest summer for a century, a drama of suspicion and betrayal unfolds. Bonds of love and shared history are stretched to the breaking point as Nina begins an illicit affair. Each sister claims to possess knowledge that could destroy the other. But who is lying and who is telling the truth? As the past becomes alive and dangerous, it forces Isabel to commit a shocking, transforming act.

Review:

I picked this book because I needed to read a book for my Round The World Challenge that took place in Ireland. The book that I originally picked, was a bust. So this was my second attempt to explore Ireland though a book.

Unfortunately this book was not as suspenseful and drama filled as the synopsis would have one believe. It was actually kind of flat. There were some interesting things happening in the story but Dunmore failed to make me really care. It was all rather boring.

The story is told through the first person perspective of Nina. Nina character could have been interesting but she failed to connect to me. I wanted her to be interesting and exciting but she was as boring as the drama and suspense that was promised.

Isabel is a little more interesting in the fact that the reader sees her through Nina's somewhat jaded eyes. But there seems to be so much more going on with her. Other than that she was boring also.

I really like to give somewhat in depth reviews but this was just bland. I was disappointed. The inside cover and title got me excited and didn't deliver.

Pros: Easy to read
Cons: Boring


Overall Recommendation:

Not worth the time.

Challenges:

Library Challenge (12 out of 25)
Round The World Passage (4 out of 18)


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