I was recommended this book a while ago by a friend and regretfully it took me a very long time to get around to it. I was intrigued by the back cover description and it seemed like something I would enjoy, but between moving house, work, studying and keeping up with life in general, I didn't have a lot of time to read for pleasure for a while. This was the first book I picked up after about a month of not having time to read anything at all, and I'm glad it was - it was a breath of fresh air.
The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn is an unusual book, told in
the form of letters and diary entries from young Cordelia, who is recording the
story of her teenage life for her unborn daughter to read when she is older.
She is a romantically minded girl with a talent for poetry and a great love of
Shakespeare, piano playing and her boyfriend Will. From when the book begins
when Cordelia is 15 up until it's end when she is barely 20, a lot happens to
her and it is all recorded in varying levels of detail.
I found the format of the book difficult at times - in
particular a section where pages are labelled (a) and (b) and the left hand
pages tell one part of the story while the right hand pages tell another part.
It was easy to read after a while, but jarring at the same time, which I
suppose added to the effect of the section. The book also dealt with some
things that I hadn't expected - the affair with Edward in particular was
handled well and felt realistic for the most part, especially the overall
awkwardness and uneasiness of the break-up. The portrayal of Will was also
nicely handled - at the same time showing him through Cordelia's rose-tinted
glasses and hinting subtly at his faults, which change and grow and mature as
he does. He is obsessive and naive as much as Cordelia is, and his insecurity
threatens to shine through at any time, but for all of this, the reader can see
his appeal. I was certainly rooting for them the whole way through, and glad
that he turned out to be the father of the mysterious baby girl.
The poetry and literature scattered throughout the novel was
nice as it broke up the prose, although I do think it detracted from the
emotion occasionally instead of adding to it, particularly during the
kidnapping sequence with Cal. I found myself skim reading a few times in order
to hurry ahead and find out what was happening, which I'm sure was a bad idea
but it was too hard to resist. I think second and third readings will be
equally as good with this book as I can pick up things I might have missed
first time around. The character of Julie interested me a great deal, but she
seemed a little too perfect - I was waiting for something to arise and prove me
wrong but it never seemed to, but I did like her regardless.
The last chapter of the book did take me by surprise, but not
as much as it could have. I feel like I've read an awful lot of books lately
where the young female heroine dies tragically and unexpectedly in the midst of
her life (One Day, a recent re-read of Looking For Alaska) and while it didn't
quite feel clichéd, it couldn't help but feel familiar. It was painful to read
for all the right reasons and disturbingly real feeling - I half wish I hadn't
read the last 30 pages or so and just finished it off on a good note. But I did
and it didn't, and the only thing I can feel comforted by is the reassurance of
the last story that life does go on no matter what, and no matter how shocking and
terrible a situation might be, good can still come of it. I wanted to give this book more stars but the ending and the dragging format brought it down for me a bit, however I would still highly reccommend it.
I'm glad I read this book, and I would give it 3.5 stars out
of 5
- Natalie XOX
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