Official Review: The Walls of Rookwalk by Angela Gait

[Christinar81]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Walls of Rookwalk" by Angela Gait.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Walls of Rookwalk by Angela Gait is a fictional novel. It tells the story of the lives of Annabelle Tait and her family, as seen through Annabelle's eyes. The novel is set in England, in a 30 bedroom mansion belonging to the Tait family. The head of the family is Margaret, the mother of five children. The oldest child is Lydia, who is referred to as the beautiful one. Hugo is the oldest boy and the Third Baron of Wraxley. The middle child is Annabelle, the narrator, who is epileptic. Rosalind is the youngest girl and is very spoiled. The baby of the family is Jeremy, who considers himself " The Invisible one". Their father died when the children were very young.

The story takes place over a period of 20 to 30 years. It starts in what seems to be the 1960s and flashes back to the past throughout the book. In the flashbacks, it describes how beautiful and grand the mansion is. The mansion sits on a large amount of land that also houses a chapel, sawmill, stable, dairy and numerous cottages. There are beautiful gardens with walkways leading through trees throughout the property. In the present, the mansion is crumbling and falling into ruin. The gardens and grounds are all grown over with weeds, nettles and thorns. Most of the mansion is closed up because only Hugo and Annabelle live there now. Lydia, now a wealthy widow, only comes around when she finds out there is something of value in the mansion. Rosalind has been married several times and her health is declining. Jeremy, who is something of an explorer, hasn't been heard from in 2 years. Hugo appears to have become mental unstable and Annabelle is his caregiver. Annabella sees the mansion is deteriorating but is unable to do anything about it by herself. Throughout the story Annabella flashes back to the past telling the story of how each person came to be where they are.

The plot includes a lot of deep, dark and sad issues that the characters dealt with in their lives. The issues include miscarriages, mental disease, attempted suicide, divorce and the results of war. They live in a time and social class where its about how they look on the outside. So a lot of the issues are ignored or hid. This leads to a lot of problems in the lives of the characters as they age.

The author, Angela Gait, is very eloquent. Her writing is very descriptive and graphic. All the troubles and turmoil the characters experienced gave the book a bleak feeling, in my opinion. There's a sadness throughout the story that made it a little hard for me read. I tend to like to read books that are happy-go-lucky. The writing and plot were so well executed that I wanted to finish the book even though I found it very bleak. I'm happy I did finish it because the author was able to bring the whole story around and end it in a very happy way. I'll leave it at that so I don't give anything away.

I rate the book a 3 out of 4 stars for great writing and plot, even if it was a little too melancholy for me. I would recommend this book for adult readers. I would like to read more books by this author, if I can find one that's a little happier.

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The Walls of Rookwalk
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Like Christinar81's review? Post a comment saying so!

[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review. I can relate to your wish for a happier story. I read a book recently that was excellent, although very depressing in the way the characters were treated. I don't need hearts and flowers in a book, but too much hardship is not my cup of tea.

[[Frank]]

I am the author, so I don't really know what I'm allowed to say here, but thank you for this review.

[Michelle-lit]

Thanks for the review. When it comes to general fiction, I kind of like the dark and bleak; so, I think I'll give this book a shot.

[Ealasaid]

Thank you for this review. While I enjoy happy books, I also like reading darker books as well so I am interested in trying this one and will add it to my to-read list.

[Christinar81]

It is a good book. So if you enjoy a story that has a darker bleak feeling I definitely recommended. The author has an incredible talent for describing places and people. I was able to picture every place so well. At first the way the book jumped back in forth between the present and past confused me but as the book went on it was easier to grasp. I'm glad I finished it and will be keeping an eye out for more books from this author.

-- 12 May 2015, 15:41 --

I enjoyed reading your review. I can relate to your wish for a happier story. I read a book recently that was excellent, although very depressing in the way the characters were treated. I don't need hearts and flowers in a book, but too much hardship is not my cup of tea.

I agree, I don't need all rainbows and puppies and I like a story with some meat to it. I find that I'm very empathic with characters and once they go through so much I start to feel like I've been through it myself. Then it takes me a while to shake the depression and sadness off.