Helpful Score: 13
Oh my! This book was good. Sorry, my copy is going into my permanent collection, but I loved the book so much I wanted to write a review.
This is the very personal story of two women, sisters who love each other dearly despite the fact that their personalities are opposite of each other. They are separated when one is forced to move to colonial America and marry a man she has never met. 2 years later the younger sister also comes to America only to find her older sister dead of childbed fever - or at least that's what her brother-in-law tells her. But is he telling the truth? And where does she go from there - totally alone now in a new country? The rest of the story and the mystery unfolds from there - and I won't spoil it for you.
Unlike some historical fiction novels, this one isn't bogged down in historical details. To be sure, the author did her research, but the historical setting seems totally natural. The details there are in the story are there to make it real. And, despite the fact that neither sister is a stereotypical "woman of the time", it does seem very real. I loved this book.
This is the very personal story of two women, sisters who love each other dearly despite the fact that their personalities are opposite of each other. They are separated when one is forced to move to colonial America and marry a man she has never met. 2 years later the younger sister also comes to America only to find her older sister dead of childbed fever - or at least that's what her brother-in-law tells her. But is he telling the truth? And where does she go from there - totally alone now in a new country? The rest of the story and the mystery unfolds from there - and I won't spoil it for you.
Unlike some historical fiction novels, this one isn't bogged down in historical details. To be sure, the author did her research, but the historical setting seems totally natural. The details there are in the story are there to make it real. And, despite the fact that neither sister is a stereotypical "woman of the time", it does seem very real. I loved this book.
Helpful Score: 8
When I first started reading this book I thought it was a little too Harlequin Romancy for me. I had nothing else with me though so I continued to read and I'm very glad I did. I love books that transport me to a different time and Mary Sharratt did a very good job with that element. Her characters are engaging and their story will keep you turning the pages well into the night.
Helpful Score: 6
Very interesting book of May and her sister Hannah and how their lives are living in New America in the late 1600's. If you like historical novels, you will like this one also. There are twists to the end of the novel and it goes back and forth telling Hannah's story and then May's story. I can't wait to read more of her books
Helpful Score: 6
A book that is both lively, captivating, intimate and memorable. It is one of those books you can not seem to put down, nor do you really want to!
Helpful Score: 6
âThe Vanishing Pointâ
By
Mary Sharratt
May Powers is no stranger to a good roll in the hay. In fact, she's a little bit too familiar with it. Her honor gone, and no hope of finding a respectable match in her small English town, her father sends her to America to be wed to a distant cousin's son Gabriel. May's sister Hannah is distraught about this, she doesn't want her sister to leave her all alone with their ailing father. Knowing they will meet again after their father dies, May leaves for America and Hannah is left to cling to her few and far between letters.
Once her father is gone, Hannah departs for America to join her sister but immediately knows that something is wrong. The plantation where May was supposed to be living is all but unreachable and upon arrival she can see that the land has not been worked in a very long time. May is nowhere to be found, only her husband is left behind living like an Indian off the land. Desperate to find her, Hannah looks for answers in Gabriel but ends up with only more questions, questions that threaten to break her sanity and eventually seething guilt and remorse.
âThe Vanishing Pointâ was another one of those books. I started out loving it, couldn't put it down. I could feel in my bones that this was going to be one of those great historical fictions that leaves you wanting more and more. Unfortunately Sharratt let me down in the end.
âThe Vanishing Pointâ started out gripping, I was engaged with the characters and wanted to know more about them. I was in love with Hannah, found her to be very deep and wanted her to be happy with her new life in the colonies. But as the book went on I liked her less and less. May's âdisappearanceâ was given a very direct answer to in the very beginning of the book, but then it kept coming into question, then again, and again, and again. I was sick of hearing about May from Hannah's perspective. It just seemed like the girl couldn't let her sister go and let herself be happy.
In addition, just when I was really starting to like Hannah and wanted more to happen with her and Gabriel, the book switched tones and direction and changed to May's perspective. This I found annoying as opposed to being helpful to the plot. It just seemed like Sharratt couldn't decide who to write about or who her main character was supposed to be. âThe Vanishing Pointâ took a cruel twist from historical fiction to mystery in one fell swoop. Totally not expecting it, the story was soured for me at that point.
I also felt like at the end Sharratt was grasping at straws. The ending consisted of an elongated letter that served as an epilogue and I found it to be the âeasy way outâ if you will. It was almost like she didn't know how to finish the story but her editors were demanding an end. I was sincerely upset at the end of âThe Vanishing Point.â
I admit I was entertained, but books that leave me annoyed at the end really get under my skin. I give it 3 stars for entertainment value, but can't go over that and would prefer to really give it 2 ½ stars. After the disappointing genre twist the book just went south. All and all I was left with a bad taste in my mouth after reading âThe Vanishing Pointâ and for that reason alone I cannot review it in high regard.
By
Mary Sharratt
May Powers is no stranger to a good roll in the hay. In fact, she's a little bit too familiar with it. Her honor gone, and no hope of finding a respectable match in her small English town, her father sends her to America to be wed to a distant cousin's son Gabriel. May's sister Hannah is distraught about this, she doesn't want her sister to leave her all alone with their ailing father. Knowing they will meet again after their father dies, May leaves for America and Hannah is left to cling to her few and far between letters.
Once her father is gone, Hannah departs for America to join her sister but immediately knows that something is wrong. The plantation where May was supposed to be living is all but unreachable and upon arrival she can see that the land has not been worked in a very long time. May is nowhere to be found, only her husband is left behind living like an Indian off the land. Desperate to find her, Hannah looks for answers in Gabriel but ends up with only more questions, questions that threaten to break her sanity and eventually seething guilt and remorse.
âThe Vanishing Pointâ was another one of those books. I started out loving it, couldn't put it down. I could feel in my bones that this was going to be one of those great historical fictions that leaves you wanting more and more. Unfortunately Sharratt let me down in the end.
âThe Vanishing Pointâ started out gripping, I was engaged with the characters and wanted to know more about them. I was in love with Hannah, found her to be very deep and wanted her to be happy with her new life in the colonies. But as the book went on I liked her less and less. May's âdisappearanceâ was given a very direct answer to in the very beginning of the book, but then it kept coming into question, then again, and again, and again. I was sick of hearing about May from Hannah's perspective. It just seemed like the girl couldn't let her sister go and let herself be happy.
In addition, just when I was really starting to like Hannah and wanted more to happen with her and Gabriel, the book switched tones and direction and changed to May's perspective. This I found annoying as opposed to being helpful to the plot. It just seemed like Sharratt couldn't decide who to write about or who her main character was supposed to be. âThe Vanishing Pointâ took a cruel twist from historical fiction to mystery in one fell swoop. Totally not expecting it, the story was soured for me at that point.
I also felt like at the end Sharratt was grasping at straws. The ending consisted of an elongated letter that served as an epilogue and I found it to be the âeasy way outâ if you will. It was almost like she didn't know how to finish the story but her editors were demanding an end. I was sincerely upset at the end of âThe Vanishing Point.â
I admit I was entertained, but books that leave me annoyed at the end really get under my skin. I give it 3 stars for entertainment value, but can't go over that and would prefer to really give it 2 ½ stars. After the disappointing genre twist the book just went south. All and all I was left with a bad taste in my mouth after reading âThe Vanishing Pointâ and for that reason alone I cannot review it in high regard.
