Official Review: When a conscience knocks
Posted: 23 Nov 2020, 09:28
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "When a conscience knocks" by James G. Skinner.]
When a conscience knocks is the story about Jenny Robertson, an English teacher, and Juan Miguel, a Spanish diplomat, who meet whilst both working in Iran. They fall in love and get married. Thanks to Juan Miguel’s job, they get a chance to work and live in countries all over the world, including Argentina, Panama, the United States and Great Britain. They regularly return to Orense, Juan Miguel’s beloved hometown in Galicia. Unexpectedly, Juan Miguel starts showing the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and Jenny undertakes the difficult task of taking care of the love of her life.
This book reads like a biography, even if it is a fictional story. I am sure that the author, James G. Skinner, uses many of his own experiences because the information provided is fully accurate. Jenny and Juan Miguel live through many historical events, such as the Air France airbus hijacking, the Falklands War and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. All these events are described in a very detailed way and give the reader a lot of historical background information. Although the blurb tells us that this story is about Alzheimer’s disease, it is not until page 168 that the Alzheimer topic appears. From that moment on, the story takes a different turn and becomes more emotional. The author did an excellent job in showing the raw reality of having lived a fascinating life and not being able to remember anything of it when the Alzheimer condition worsens.
The story is told from Jenny’s point of view. The reader gets a good impression of her feelings and thoughts. However, I missed reading Juan Miguel’s point of view as well. I know that Alzheimer’s sufferers often get very frustrated when realizing that their illness progresses, but this topic is completely omitted by the author. The language that Jenny uses is very to the point, with short sentences that often omit the subject. It felt like the sentences were translated from Spanish, as in Spanish grammar the conjugated form of the verb is enough to tell the reader who or what the subject of the sentence is. Some examples I read in the book are: “Was too upset to answer,” “Didn’t last long,” “Couldn’t help shedding a tear,” or “Soon came back to reality.” This went on, page after page, and it took me a bit to get used to this curious writing style.
The book definitely needs another round of editing. I found many spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, some quite embarrassing (such as on page 98: cockles, muscles instead of cockles, mussels). This is the main reason that I give this book 3 out of 4 stars instead of the full 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in geopolitical world history, Alzheimer’s disease and people who have a general interest in Spain. I would not recommend this book to people who are uncomfortable reading a book with the above-mentioned writing style and people who do not enjoy sexual content.
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When a conscience knocks
View: on Bookshelves
When a conscience knocks is the story about Jenny Robertson, an English teacher, and Juan Miguel, a Spanish diplomat, who meet whilst both working in Iran. They fall in love and get married. Thanks to Juan Miguel’s job, they get a chance to work and live in countries all over the world, including Argentina, Panama, the United States and Great Britain. They regularly return to Orense, Juan Miguel’s beloved hometown in Galicia. Unexpectedly, Juan Miguel starts showing the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and Jenny undertakes the difficult task of taking care of the love of her life.
This book reads like a biography, even if it is a fictional story. I am sure that the author, James G. Skinner, uses many of his own experiences because the information provided is fully accurate. Jenny and Juan Miguel live through many historical events, such as the Air France airbus hijacking, the Falklands War and the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York. All these events are described in a very detailed way and give the reader a lot of historical background information. Although the blurb tells us that this story is about Alzheimer’s disease, it is not until page 168 that the Alzheimer topic appears. From that moment on, the story takes a different turn and becomes more emotional. The author did an excellent job in showing the raw reality of having lived a fascinating life and not being able to remember anything of it when the Alzheimer condition worsens.
The story is told from Jenny’s point of view. The reader gets a good impression of her feelings and thoughts. However, I missed reading Juan Miguel’s point of view as well. I know that Alzheimer’s sufferers often get very frustrated when realizing that their illness progresses, but this topic is completely omitted by the author. The language that Jenny uses is very to the point, with short sentences that often omit the subject. It felt like the sentences were translated from Spanish, as in Spanish grammar the conjugated form of the verb is enough to tell the reader who or what the subject of the sentence is. Some examples I read in the book are: “Was too upset to answer,” “Didn’t last long,” “Couldn’t help shedding a tear,” or “Soon came back to reality.” This went on, page after page, and it took me a bit to get used to this curious writing style.
The book definitely needs another round of editing. I found many spelling, grammatical and punctuation errors, some quite embarrassing (such as on page 98: cockles, muscles instead of cockles, mussels). This is the main reason that I give this book 3 out of 4 stars instead of the full 4 stars.
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in geopolitical world history, Alzheimer’s disease and people who have a general interest in Spain. I would not recommend this book to people who are uncomfortable reading a book with the above-mentioned writing style and people who do not enjoy sexual content.
******
When a conscience knocks
View: on Bookshelves
. Thanks a lot for your kind comments.