Falling Angels was a disappointing follow-up to The Girl with the Pearl Earring. None of the subtlety or plausibility and I felt through the whole thing that Chavalier merely used the novel as a way of showing off how much research she had done on the women’s suffrage movement.

در دنیای واقعی کارکتری مثل "لیوی" یا بقول خودش "لاوینیا" فقط در دنیای بچگانه ش دوستداشتنیه، تازه اونهم زمانیکه جنبه های منفیشو نادیده بگیریم اما وقتی بزرگ میشه تبدیل میشه به یکی مثل "کیتی کولمن". امیدوارم دو گروه "روشنفکرها" و "روشنفکرنماها" دست از بزرگ کردن بیخودی کارکترهایی مثل کیتی کولمن و خانم بوواری بردارند! آدمای خودخواه و بی مسئولیتی که اطرافیانشونو ذله میکنن. اگر کسی خلاف این فکر میکنه چطوره نظرشو درمورد داشتن یه همچین مادر، خواهر یا همسری بپرسیم؟
کتاب حرف خاصی برای گفتن نداشت! یه ماجرای خیلی معمولی از زندگی یکنواخت و معمولی دوتا خانواده ی کاملا معمولی! نویسنده همه سعیشو بکار گرفت تا یکم هیجان چاشنی کارش کنه اما چیزی که از کاردراومد صرفا یه تراژدی بود و بس

Set in Edwardian London, Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier takes place from January 1901 to May 1910 and was a joy to read.

This historical novel confidently covers themes of mourning, mourning etiquette, class and the suffragette movement with an engaging and natural writing style.

The chapters are narrated in the first person by several of the main characters, although each character picks up the thread of the story and continues with it, rather than re-living the same events from their point of view.

Each of the voices are unique, making it impossible to confuse the characters.

My favourite character by far was Simon Field, the gravedigger's son and the conversations that take place in the cemetery were some of my favourite parts of the book.

I recommend Falling Angels for those interested in the mourning etiquette of the Victorian and Edwardian periods and readers looking for something a little different.

Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier was a book set in Victorian England after the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901. In keeping with the tradition of public mourning, two families visiting neighboring graves become acquainted as each in horror sees that while one gravesite has an urn, the other has an ostentatious angel reaching out. The Coleman family and the Waterhouse family each have a five-year-old daughter and Maude and Lavinia become instant friends as they steel away to explore the cemetery and meeting Simon, the gravedigger's son.

This book transpires over a ten-year period during the height of Victorian England complete with gaslights and hansom cabs. The setting was exquisite as one could vividly imagine the scenes invoked. These two families become more entwined over the next ten years when the book ends with the death of King Edward.

There are many points of view as we go through the lives of these families during the ten years between these historic reigns. At times I was riveted to the narrative and at other times, it seemed tedious. All in all there is a heartbreaking story in these pages. I have read other books by this author and I will continue to follow her work.

Thanks to her trustworthy research, I always learn a bit of history from Tracy Chevalier stories. In this book you will learn about mourning etiquette, grave digging and women's suffrage in early 1900s England.

This one didn't enfold me in a dream-like atmosphere as Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Virgin Blue did but it was still a captivating read.

Ambientato nel primo decennio del Novecento, e per buona parte nel suggestivo cimitero londinese di Highgate (considerato dagli alto borghesi come un qualsiasi luogo di passeggio e di incontro), questo romanzo polifonico ci presenta una galleria di intensi ritratti femminili, incredibilmente realistici e variegati, dalle giovani e anziane signore inchiodate alla rigida morale vittoriana, passando per le più emancipate, fino alle audaci suffragette pronte a finire dietro alle sbarre in nome della libera scelta.
Bellissimo e atmosferico romanzo storico.
Una sorpresa inaspettata

This book grabbed me from the very first page. Set at the turn of the century, the story takes place amidst the women's suffrage movement. Gender issues are also noted, whereas the man was the head of the household and "handled" the wife.
Each character speaks individually, allowing the reader to listen and decide for themselves where to put the importance of each character. The voice of the youngest children is included, as is the maid, cook, grave digger to the "gubner."
Issues of class are also raised in this story from the servants and grave diggers to those of the most forward thinking family.

Set in the first decade of the 20th century. Two middle-class London families have neighbouring plots in a cemetery. While the two couples are far from being soulmates, their fates are brought together by the cemetery and the friendship of two of their children, with catastrophic results.

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

This is a historical drama which was not as fulfilling as I had hoped. In my opinion, not a lot happens, except for a lot of loitering around a cemetery. I was excited about the time period and thought this would prove quite interesting, but I don’t think the story ever gets going.

سقوط فرشتگان از آن کتاب هاییست که نمی توانم تصمیم بگیرم دوستش دارم یا نه.
داستان با مرگ ملکه ویکتوریا در سال 1901 شروع می شود و به مدت نه سال (سال های سلطنت ادوارد هفتم) سرنوشت دو خانواده را دنبال می کند.
نثر کتاب نثر مخصوص و دوست داشتنی تریسی شوالیه است. نثری روان با همان توصیف ها و جزئیات دقیق که در «دختری با گوشواره مروارید» هم استفاده شده و این بار مخاطب را به ابتدای قرن بیستم و آغاز تغییرات در انگلستان ویکتوریایی می برد. تریسی شوالیه در این کتاب از چندین راوی اول شخص استفاده کرده بود و تقریبا به همه شخصیت های داستانش فرصت داده بود تا بخشی از داستان را از زاویه دید خود روایت کنند. اما بخش اصلی کتاب از زبان زنان کتاب روایت می شود و با توجه به سیر اتفاقات می توان گفت «سقوط فرشتگان» کتابی درباره زنان در اغاز قرن بیستم است.
«سقوط فرشتگان» بر خلاف «دختری با گوشواره مروارید» (که از سرشار رنگ های درخشان و حس خوب هنر و نقاشی بود)، بوی مرگ میداد. کتاب با یک مرگ شروع (ملکه ویکتوریا) و با یک مرگ پایان یافت (پادشاه ادوارد هفتم). در طول داستان هم مرگ بر بخش های مختلف داستان سایه انداخته بود. (قبرستان، گورکن ها، فرشته ها و ظرف های خاکستر، تشریفات خاکسپاری و عزاداری و...)
مشکل اصلی در مورد این داستان این بود که من تا صد صفحه اول داستان سردرگم بود که داستان چه مسیری را در پیش گرفته و هدف نویسنده و شخصیت ها چیست و قرار است به کجا برسند. و اضافه شدن این مسئله به جزئی گری نویسنده باعث شد حس کنم در لندن قرن بیستم گم شده ام. مشکل بعدی رفتار غیر قابل درک بعضی از شخصیت ها به خصوص کیتی کولمن بود. که حتی روایت بخشی از داستان از زبان خودش توجیهی بر رفتار های عجیب و غریبش نبود.
انتظاری که از تریسی شوالیه داشتم در این کتاب براورده نشد و با توجه به همه مسائل امتیاز من به این کتاب بین سه و چهار است.

This tale opens on the day of Queen Victoria's death. Two families, with adjacent plots, meet for the first time at the cemetary. The book follows these two familes through their ups and downs over the course of nine years. The story pretty much revolves around the cemetary and is quite the commentary of Victorian England's obsession with death.

I enjoyed hearing everyone's voice: the story was told through about a dozen differnt "voices". It was never hard to keep up with each voice, and I enjoyed the changes. I think that because of the voice changes, it was easier to handle the tragedies. It gave the reader a unique insight into each character: being able to see them through their own eyes, as well as those around them.

If you're looking for a "happily ever after book", this isn't it. I was pleased with the ending, it was fitting. And I felt reading this book was a bit cathartic, it wasn't a crier, but I felt refreshed afterwards.

I love how this book exposes so many different aspects of the Victorian lifestyle; from people with high society statuses, to servants and even a gravedigger's son. The fact that the story is told through the eyes of thirteen very different characters makes it even more interesting to read, since I never seemed to get bored with the whole concept of the story.

Through this book I can delve into the past and examine the London lifestyle in the Victorian era that I didn't have much clue about before. I didn't know how difficult life was to women during those years. They didn't have what modern women now take for granted: the freedom of choice, of speech, and of having equality.

This novel is romantic, heart wrenching, tragic, entertaining, and just simply beautifully written. I finished it in less than a week. I cried when Kitty Coleman and Ivy May passed away. I simply couldn't put it down. Praise for Tracy Chevalier. I am a fan.