Bitter Orange
Ratings8
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings8
Average rating3.6
From the attic of Lyntons, a dilapidated English country mansion, Frances Jellico sees them--Cara first: dark and beautiful, then Peter: striking and serious. The couple is spending the summer of 1969 in the rooms below hers while Frances is researching the architecture in the surrounding gardens. But she's distracted. Beneath a floorboard in her bathroom, she finds a peephole that gives her access to her neighbors' private lives.
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I don't love the format of “old person reflects back on the past, which is where the story actually takes place”. It feels tired and doesn't add anything to the story. However, I can see that the author wanted to tease out the secret of Frances being in jail, slowly revealing it and then having it hanging over our heads during the final chapters of her time with Peter and Clara, rather than it being a big reveal in the ending chapters. I don't love that structure, but I understand why the choice was made and it didn't ruin the flow (as I had feared at first).
The story itself was good, although it got off to a pretty slow start. Once Peter and Clara have some weirdness on them things finally get interesting. The best part of the book by far was the ending, where we learn that Frances murdered her mother. I was not at all expecting it, and it one-upped my little fantasy revenges on Frances's behalf; I was left thinking “Oh ok, you've got this one handled, holy shit.” The ending definitely left a good final impression.
