Maven Books

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, only having heard of it and the rest of the Forsyte series very recently.  It took me a little while to get a good sense of the various family members, given there were so many to keep track of.  The family tree in the edition I had certainly helped, though it also included spoilers.

Eventually, I felt like I had to keep on reading, to see how things might unfold.  What would happen with the engagement?  What would happen to the house?  What would happen to the marriage?  Perhaps the family tree egged me on, knowing what might lie ahead in this or the later books.

My only complaint was the way new or previously glanced-at characters were sometimes presented.  When it happened, it felt like the narrator was putting the story on pause, to then turn to you and give you lengthy summary of the new person, before turning back to start things up again.  It felt a bit jarring, and sometimes went on for too long, making me want to skip ahead and get back to the story.

That said, I did enjoy the book, even if it seems like not a great deal happened.  Things were left open at the end, so I do plan on reading the next book in the series, to see where things pick up from here.