I wish I had a more dynamic book to feature as my first book review of 2020. Unfortunately that’s not the case. If you are here trying to figure out whether Tidelands by Philippa Gregory is worth a read, the short answer from me is no.
For a more nuanced and detailed review, read on 🙂 .
About the Book
Tidelands is the first book in the Fairmile series.
It’s 1648, and England is in the grip of civil war between renegade King and rebellious Parliament. The struggle reaches every corner of the kingdom, even to the remote Tidelands – the marshy landscape of the south coast.
Alinor, a descendant of wise women, crushed by poverty and superstition, waits in the graveyard under the full moon for a ghost who will declare her free from her abusive husband. Instead she meets James, a young man on the run, and shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marsh, not knowing that she is leading disaster into the heart of her life.
Suspected of possessing dark secrets in superstitious times, Alinor’s ambition and determination mark her out from her neighbours. This is the time of witch-mania, and Alinor, a woman without a husband, skilled with herbs, suddenly enriched, arouses envy in her rivals and fear among the villagers, who are ready to take lethal action into their own hands.
My Review
Tidelands is one of those books that’s hard for me to write about. On one hand, it’s not so bad that I can freely snark on it, nor is it good enough to rave about. It falls smack in the middle. It’s also mind-numbingly boring. It’s got good reviews and four-star ratings on goodreads, and I just don’t understand it.
All I can think to say about this book is that it’s DULL. I know Philippa Gregory’s writing style is not to my taste (I didn’t like The Other Boleyn Girl much either). But TOBG was at least fast-paced and readable.
Tidelands is just meandering with just way too much filler content. Almost a third of the book is mainly details of Alinor’s daily routine. Obviously, a historical fiction title should include information of the time and place, and normally I enjoy a good deal of scene setting. However, Gregory’s writing lets the book down. I think her writing style is more suited to a plot-driven book, which Tidelands is most definitely not.
Another aspect of the book I disliked were the weak characters. Alison is the main protagonist, but I didn’t find her compelling enough. Her insta-love with James is just not believable enough, and I found I couldn’t care less about what happened to them (or anyone in the book for that matter). Even the witchery portion of the book is boring.
The only interesting parts of the book related to the attempts to rescue King Charles I from Cromwell’s men. And that is the smallest portion of the book 🙁 .
Overall a disappointing reading start to 2020!
Tell me readers, have you read this book? Am I the only person to be disappointed by it? I just can’t understand how Tidelands is universally appreciated!
