Thursday 2 August 2012

DEBUTANTES - CORA HARRISON - REVIEW


Book: Debutantes
Author: Cora Harrison
Publisher: PanMacmillan
ISBN: 9781447205944
Rating: A

It's 1923 and London is a whirl of jazz, dancing and parties. Violet, Daisy, Poppy and Rose Derrington are desperate to be part of it, but stuck in an enormous crumbling house in the country, with no money and no fashionable dresses, the excitement seems a lifetime away. Luckily the girls each have a plan for escaping their humdrum country life: Rose wants to be a novelist, Poppy a jazz musician and Daisy a famous film director. Violet, however, has only one ambition: to become the perfect Debutante, so that she can go to London and catch the eye of Prince George, the most eligible bachelor in the country. But a house as big and old as Beech Grove Manor hides many secrets, and Daisy is about to uncover one so huge it could ruin all their plans - ruin everything - forever.

Debutantes is definitely one to remember. I don't usually read stuff like this and I tend to shy away from historical fiction but after enjoying Pretty Young Things I thought I would give this a go, and I was more than pleasantly surprised. This book blew me away. This was just a whirlwind of mystery, love, and a good ol’ tale about family and friendship. It’s a beautiful crafted novel, that will keep you up for hours reading!

The plot is a masterful one, set in a time which I haven't read much about, so it’s clear a lot of research went into it. The plot is very unique and although it has some of the historical fiction cliches, I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it before, and that I loved it. It was a tantalizing mix of romance and mystery, but not paranormal in any way.

There isnt really a main character because it seems to be fairly split between the sisters but If I had to say one, I would say that Daisy seems to take more of the attention than any of the other girls and she is the one you get to know the most!

The book in itself was very easy flowing and growing and simple to understand. There were no complexities or hard parts to understand. It was all really easy to understand, and it flowed very smoothly.

The writing is gorgeous. Harrison knows how to please the mind, building a whole new timeframe in your mind, transporting back to the 20’s with the vivd description and beautiful prose. The writing really was a pleasure to read and I would love to see a sequel in the works.! I’m a stickler for a series. I just love them!

Overall the book was a gorgeous novel, masterfully crafted and written with the uptomost effort. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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