In all three of Eva Rice's novels I have read there is a female whose name begins with M with a drinking problem. Marina, Matilda and now Marnie.
Funny coincidence, but I think this illustrates a little bit of why I was disappointed by this novel. I read and loved the Lost Art of Keeping Secrets (so much that I then re-read it aloud to my sisters' rapt attention who themselves went on to re-read it for their own pleasure. It became a bit of a family fave.). I then read The Misinterpretation of Tara Jupp (this time it was the first time that was read aloud to my sisters as we all couldn't wait for this new novel, my own reading of it came later). I was a bit disappointed by that one. There was still that lovely vintage-y feel that makes you nostalgic for a time you never lived in and Eva Rice does an excellent job of skating around the edge of the romances in her book which makes them terribly thrilling and somehow seem very profound. Her supporting cast of characters are also invariably brilliant. However, it wasn't as... sparkling as the first and I think that was partially due to the fact I couldn't really connect to the main character and a little bit because although facts-wise this was a totally different novel it felt thematically quite similar to the first (Although I will say that on my re-read I did enjoy it a whole lot more).
This new book I did not really enjoy. It felt like another Bildungsroman, but with less likeable characters and less glamour.
I still love her writing style (she can really make the most unlikely situations seem terribly enchanting and special) but I seem to be connecting less and less with the character behind her first-person female protagonists.