Falling Angels

Critics

• Falling Angels

  Tracy Chevalier's Falling Angels chronicles two very different families set amid the social upheaval of the first decade of the twentieth century. Opening on the very day of Queen Victoria's death, the novel, told from myriad points of view, describe ... (read full critics)

  womenwriters published on Tue, 28 Sep 2010

• Wings of desire

  Falling Angels Tracy Chevalier HarperCollins, £12.99 In her follow-up to Girl With a Pearl Earring, Chevalier invokes the two splendid Victorian obsessions of sex and death, except that now the Queen's protracted reign is finally over, and social and ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  This is the third novel by Tracy Chevalier that I have read and I have found them all utterly compelling and so different. I loved the choice of title which I felt was a clever use of symbolism, with angels falling throughout the book! The opening chapter may well surprise you about those staid Vict ... (continue)

  This is the third novel by Tracy Chevalier that I have read and I have found them all utterly compelling and so different. I loved the choice of title which I felt was a clever use of symbolism, with angels falling throughout the book! The opening chapter may well surprise you about those staid Victorians.
  Falling Angels is about the friendship of two little girls Lavinia Waterhouse and Maude Coleman.
  Covering the time from when they first met in the local graveyard, where their family plots are next door to each other. It is 1901 and everyone is in mourning for the death of Queen Victoria. We follow the girls growing up through changing times for the next nine years. The book is narrated by just about every character in the book, so the story comes together seen through the eyes of not only the two protagonists but their families, household staff and two members of the graveyard staff that play important roles in the plot. This structure gave the effect of feeling very much part of the plot oneself as though all the characters were speaking to you personally, which very cleverly makes you feel you are there! Drawn into the seemingly mundane lives of the Waterhouse and Coleman families the drama builds as Maude’s mother becomes involved with the suffragette movement and a series of tragedies occur.
  I recommend this novel as an enjoyable read written from an interesting angle about a fascinating period in British history.

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  Lindyloumac said on Sep 27, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  The first time I read this book, I loved it.
  The second time I was slightly disappointed.
  The third time (this one, though is the first time I read it in english) I feel something in between.
  I like the way the story is narrated, through fragments of many different POV, and I like the way Tracy Chev ... (continue)

  The first time I read this book, I loved it.
  The second time I was slightly disappointed.
  The third time (this one, though is the first time I read it in english) I feel something in between.
  I like the way the story is narrated, through fragments of many different POV, and I like the way Tracy Chevalier wrote these POV, giving a believable voice to each one of them. It's the story that is not as compelling as it could have been.
  The ending is really beautiful though, in a sad, non cheesy way.

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  Mag said on Jan 15, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• Falling angels

  Really enjoyed this. Unusual to have a book that starts in a cemetery. Thought the suffragette mum was interesting. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

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  Angela Bloom 7 said on Mar 26, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
  (69)
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• English Books
• Hardcover 288 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0007108257
• ISBN-13: 9780007108251
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Pub date: Aug 06, 2001
• Also available as: Paperback, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Libros en Español, llibres en català, Libri Italiani

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