Before leaving, she turned and looked at her beloved cottage one last time and then toward the restless lake that lay just beyond it. She already knew that she could never return here. She would never again see this wonderful place, swim in that pristine lake, or hear the familiar rustle of the pine trees.
(from More Than Words Can Say, page 299 in the uncorrected proof; final version may be different)
After all the heavy Civil War novels I read during the last week of 2011 to finish up the War Through the Generations challenge, I was eager to begin the new year with Robert Barclay’s new novel, More Than Words Can Say. Family secrets, a cottage by the lake, and a World War II backstory? Count me in! However, even though it was a quick and mostly enjoyable read, it just didn’t live up to my expectations.
More Than Words Can Say takes place in 1999, with 33-year-old Chelsea Enright learning just days after her grandmother’s death that she has inherited a cottage in the Adirondacks that has been vacant since 1942. Chelsea isn’t too interested in the cottage and would just sell it if her grandmother hadn’t left her a letter and a key to a tin box hidden under the floorboards in the cottage’s guest room. Hoping to uncover the answers to why her gram never returned to the cottage and learn more about the woman she loved so dearly, Chelsea travels to Lake Evergreen and falls in love with the scenery and the cottage that holds so many memories and secrets.
Chelsea finds a friend in Brandon Yale, a young doctor with a painful past, who lives in the neighboring cottage. They grow close over the few days that Chelsea is to spend in the cottage, then closer as those few days turn into the whole summer. The two read the journal kept by Brooke Bartlett during the summer of 1942, when she was young, vibrant, in love, and just months away from the car accident that would confine her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. But Chelsea already knows that the accident isn’t what kept Brooke from returning to the cottage.
These journal entries bring readers back in time, letting them see things from Brooke’s point of view. She is newly married but separated from her husband as he trains to be an officer and go to war. She worries about how long the war will last and whether Bill will ever come home, and she decides to spend the summer alone with her thoughts in the family cottage. Her life becomes complicated when she meets the owner of the cottage next door, Greg Butler, a handsome photographer and artist whose only fault seems to be the clubfoot that kept him from joining the military.
More Than Words Can Say was pretty predictable, the relationships were forged quickly and were a bit dramatic for my tastes, and the characters’ internal dialogue bordered on cheesy. Even though the characters’ thoughts are spelled out continuously for readers, the characters lacked depth. There is plenty of (and sometimes too much) description, from what the characters were wearing on a daily basis to what they ate at nearly every meal. The food descriptions are tied to the fact that Chelsea inherited her gram’s book of wartime recipes, but I would have rather had characters with more substance than details about what they ate.
Still, More Than Words Can Say was an overall enjoyable novel. I have to give Barclay credit for writing the only lovemaking scene (paragraph, really) that I’ve ever found beautiful. And his descriptions of the cottage and the lake made me long for my own summertime retreat. I also think my ability to connect with Chelsea helped me enjoy the book more than I would have otherwise. Having recently lost my grandmother, I knew how Chelsea was feeling and could understand her desire to want to know more about her grandmother as a young woman. It made me wish I had a journal or a cookbook or some other link (like the cottage!) to my grandmother’s past.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours for having me on the blog tour for More Than Words Can Say. To follow the tour, click here.
Disclosure: I received a copy of More Than Words Can Say from William Morrow for review. I am an IndieBound affiliate and an Amazon associate.
© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Well, it has all the characteristics that would draw you in…a journal from the past, a love interest, inherited property in a beautiful location. But the devil is in the details. There are a lot of books out there with this recipe but they don’t always pull it off.
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You’re right about that. Still, I’m not sorry I read this one, so that should say something.
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I must see this lovemaking scene that you thought was beautiful. Thanks for the honest review.
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Maybe you won’t be as thrilled with it as I was, but I’ve read a lot of cheesy sex scenes in the not-so-distant past, so I recognize that they’re not easy to pull off.
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Most of the reviews I’ve read echo what you said. Maybe this would be a good beach read.
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Oh, it would be a great beach read. It’s pretty light even though Brooke’s story isn’t very uplifting, and it’s a quick read.
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I felt exactly the same way. I loved the setting but was disappointed overall with a book I was looking forward to reading.
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It makes me feel better to know I’m not alone in feeling this way about the book.
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The cottage and surrounding sound beautiful and the lovemaking scene I’d definitely like to read just to experience a beautifully written one. It’s too bad the characters and plot don’t quite measure up although this sounds like it might make a good beach or vacation read.
I really appreciated your honest review, Anna.
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Thanks, Amy. It was a hard book to review. Even though I enjoyed it overall, I felt like I had to explain why it was disappointing at the same time.
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That is too bad this book didn’t work as well as you were hoping, Anna. Hopefully your next read will be better!
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It wasn’t a horrible book, just okay. I’m already making up for it though, having read a couple of pretty good ones since then.
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Only lovescene that you have ever found beautiful…you got me intrigued now how he wrote it
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It was one sentence in the paragraph that made the whole scene for me. It just felt real, not forced or cheesy like a lot of the sex scenes I’ve read.
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I really like to have a lot of depth to characters. I’m am curious about this one though. Hope your next read it better. 🙂
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I don’t have to like the characters, but I like to know more about them and their motivations. After finishing this one, I still felt like I’d barely scratched the surface in terms of getting to know them.
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I have seen a few reviews for this book where the reader felt the same as you.Hopefully your next read will be more enjoyable.
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Thanks! I’m going to finish a book today that I’m enjoying so far!
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I’ve read that many people felt this way about this title. But, that’s what I love about reading your reviews because if I do decide to read this I will know that the story is predictable but overall not a terrible read. Sometimes, I don’t mind that…weird, huh?
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Well, predictable is good sometimes, like with chick lit. I was just expecting a little more from the WWII backstory. But you’re right, it wasn’t a terrible book. It had all the ingredients for a good story but had some flaws.
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I totally agree with everything you said good and bad. You said it so much better than I did 🙂
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Thanks, Alexis! I appreciate those kinds words.
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My library has a copy of this book so I’m looking froward to it. I don’t always mind predictable in a story so that wouldn’t bother me too much. Hopefully I’ll be able to fit it in soon.
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I hope you enjoy it! I’m looking forward to your thoughts. Hope it’ll be a better reading experience for you.
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[…] Thursday, January 5th: Diary of an Eccentric […]
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Lovemaking scenes are VERY tricky – I’m really interested to see what this author wrote that you ended up loving so much!
Thanks for your review for the tour Anna.
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You’re very welcome!
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Great review Anna, sorry to hear this one was a tad dissappointing. I’m reading it soon myself, the cottage and lake setting caught my eye right away. Now I’m wondering if I’ll enjoy the story.
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I’ll keep an eye out for your review. I hope you’re able to love the book.
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This had such promise! Well, it sounds like you found several redeeming qualities, even if it’s not at the top of your list.
Yes, a cottage or journal from our grandparents would be lovely, but most of us make do with lovely memories and photos. Perhaps you’ll find yourself writing down those stories of your time with your grandmother … something you can share with The Girl.
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I only wish I’d spent more time learning about my gram’s childhood. I feel like I know so little about her, but at least I know all the important stuff, like how much she loved us and we loved her.
I certainly was able to enjoy the story despite the flaws, so it wasn’t a bad reading experience. It just didn’t “wow” me.
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I have just started reading this and if I did not get an ARC I would not finish-for all the reasons that you have stated. Predictable, cheesy and repetitive.
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Well, I guess we can’t love every book we read. I’ll keep an eye out for your review.
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A beautiful lovemaking paragraph is worth the read 🙂
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It certainly made this book better for me.
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