Somewhere in between the borrowing and the odd glut of buying, I noticed I'd been neglecting my long-suffering and trusty bookshelf for a while. Flicking through for something that had been gathering dust for too long, I found something I had high hopes for. I'd never heard of They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell before I picked up randomly, some time ago now (obviously). Yet it seemed to me the perfect thing for now, I was hoping for something lyrical, elegant and moving.
I'm not sure I got it. It wasn't bad, indeed, it was good. It just wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. Split into three narratives, younger child, elder child and husband, they all give views on the central character whose life is of the utmost importance to the three of them – their mother/wife. Set against the backdrop of a short period at the end of World War One, it's a candid family portrait from a time gone by.
The writing was very good, particularly the dialogue, though I had been expecting something more poetic. Not quite sure why, probably due to the title, or maybe the fact it was quite a slim volume. So that worked, and the stories were nicely told, particularly Bunny's, which I much preferred to the other two. Maybe it's my heart of stone, but my main problem with it was simply that it didn't affect me in the way I think it should have done. I expected warmth and sadness, yet as well-observed and nicely composed as it worth, I just didn't quite connect with it.
Book number: 57
Title: They Came Like Swallows
Author: William Maxwell
Category: Books that have been sat on my bookshelf for too long
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