Hated it!
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I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like B Erskine's style of writing. I cannot immerse myself in her books and lose myself like I can many other authors. I have attempted to read Lady of Hay previously on three occasions and to be honest - hated it. I had felt like I was somehow lacking because so many people rave about her books but I find the premise of Barbara Erskine's novels unbelievable and long drawn out. The style of modern and ancient worlds overlapping and the constant changing from one world to another distracting and irritating. The Heroine in Lady of Hay is quite frankly pathetic, if her "living" her past as a strong woman trapped by the machinations and brutality of men was supposed to teach her something in her 20C life - it failed miserably. Jo still passes herself around men who control and ruin her life as much as they did 800yrs ago - and I didn't care.
I persevered with Child of the Phoenix after other reviewers said that it wasn't a dual time period novel. Still didn't make any difference to me, I definately won't read anymore.
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Past Life Regression
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This is the first book I have read by Barbara Erskine and being interested in past life regression I found it fascinating. The book was good and I enjoyed most of it although I did find it a little long and wanted it to come to a conclusion a lot sooner than it did. I would try another of her books to see if it would hold my attention from the first to the last page.
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Lady of Hay
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I wanted to give this three stars as the passages dealing with Matilda's life are excellent,but this is let down by the plot set in the present day. The Heroine Jo despite appearing to be a 'modern' woman is just too wet. She spends the entire book being passed around the male characters and more often than not being abused by them. The irony is that for all the constraints of her time Matilda comes across as the stronger more modern woman. One thing that made me laugh was the amount of coffee the modern day characters drink, every other page someone is either making coffee or drinking it. It's hard to believe they are all so susceptible to hypnosis with the amount of caffeine racing round their systems. Disappointing but the author shows promise.
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goes on a bit!
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i'm afraid i have to agree with the second reviewer on this one. It was a fantastic plot idea but it just went on and on and for the last 200-odd pages i was just skim reading. the characters started off well but just seemed to keep going round and round in circles with each other until it got to the point where i didn't really care about any of them anymore! I'm about to try 'Child of the Phoenix' which i hope will be a bit better!
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Disappointing
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A friend recommended this book. The start was promising and I loved the historical parts, but the rest! The main characters were totally unsympathetic, being either nasty or silly or both. The story line quickly became incredible, giving the impression that the idea had not been thought through properly or that the author had clung to the original idea long after the working out had taken in way past the point at which the reader could believe in the main characters actions, or care about them.
I would not not recommend this book to anyone who cared about plot or characterisation.
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