Review of The Behaviour of Moths-Poppy Adams

Well as promised, here is my review of The Behaviour of Moths. It is the debut novel of Poppy Adams, a documentary film maker for the BBC and Channel 4.
The book made the Costa First Novel Shortlist in 2008 but was beaten by Sadie Jones very successful debut The Outcast.

The narrative is written from the perspective of Virginia Stone (Ginny), an elderly woman living in her ancestral home, Bulbarrow Court in Dorset.
At the beginning of the story, she is waiting for the arrival of her younger sister, Vivian (Vivi), who is returning home after a 47 year absence.

Virginia is both unsettled and excited by Vivian's imminent arrival and it is obvious the sisters once shared a close bond.  However, something happened to change that and as Virginia begins to look back over her life to understand what this was, family secrets are revealed and hidden tensions surface.

I read The Behaviour of Moths on recommendation from a fellow bookworm. From his description, it had many of the elements of stories that I enjoy- a crumbling Gothic house, family secrets and a storyline that moves between the past and the present.

There were many things about this book that I liked. The narrative was easy to read and the descriptions of the house and the Dorset countryside were just detailed enough to bring them to life without losing my interest.
I found some of the references to moths and lepidoptery informative but the story wouldn't have suffered if some of these had been omitted.

I didn't fnd either Ginny's or Vivi's characters particularly likeable, and this perhaps contributed more than anything else to my overall lack of passon about this book.

For me, the ending didn't successfully tie together all the loose ends and so I was left with too many unanswered questions.

Overall I would give The Behaviour of Moths 5 out of 10. I didn't really dislike this book but I wasn't enthralled with it either.

A Brief Introduction

Welcome to "Chick's Lit" Reading Blog.  As you can see, this is my first post and I confess I am just a tiny bit  nervous.  I hope that you will find something of interest to you over the coming months (and hopefully years!) and that you will visit again.

I thought I would begin my foray into blogging by giving a brief outline of what I envisage my blog will be about.
 Reviews will play a major part in my posts and will feature books from many genres.However, I also intend to blog about other aspects of reading and the literary world such as authors, book prizes and characters from books.
I am open to any suggestions you may have about features you would like to see/ not see and any books that you would particularly like me to review.

Currently, I am reading The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams and will be reviewing this shortly.

I look forward to being a part of the blogosphere and welcome your comments.