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No Angel by Penny Vincenzi is the first in a historical saga trilogy, set between 1904 and 1920, following the story of Celia, who orchestrates a marriage to a man her parents consider unsuitable. We then track the course of her marriage of the 16 years of the book, including the career she forges at her husband's publishing house, the impact of the First World War and Celia's involvement with a working class family.
Whilst I enjoyed the first half, it did feel a bit oddly structured, with a lot of summary and multiple jumps of several years that made the narrative feel quite disjointed. The first 350 pages covered 14 years of the story, and then it slowed right down and the second 350 pages covered only two years in a lot more detail. This was where the story really took off for me and became a lot more involving.
I particularly loved all the publishing stuff (as a writer and editor myself), as well as all the different relationship dynamics over the course of the story.
There were some quite distressing aspects, particularly around pregnancy and childbirth, as well as during the war, which is only to be expected in this kind of book. And it only added to the emotional engagement and layers of the story, so I didn't really object.
The pace really picked up towards the end, racing towards quite an exciting conclusion, and I'm really looking forward to picking the story up again a few years on in volume two.
Whilst I enjoyed the first half, it did feel a bit oddly structured, with a lot of summary and multiple jumps of several years that made the narrative feel quite disjointed. The first 350 pages covered 14 years of the story, and then it slowed right down and the second 350 pages covered only two years in a lot more detail. This was where the story really took off for me and became a lot more involving.
I particularly loved all the publishing stuff (as a writer and editor myself), as well as all the different relationship dynamics over the course of the story.
There were some quite distressing aspects, particularly around pregnancy and childbirth, as well as during the war, which is only to be expected in this kind of book. And it only added to the emotional engagement and layers of the story, so I didn't really object.
The pace really picked up towards the end, racing towards quite an exciting conclusion, and I'm really looking forward to picking the story up again a few years on in volume two.
