The year is nearly halfway over, and I have not yet hit upon the best book of the year. But I can tell you that "Secrets Of Southern Girls," by Haely Harrigan, will be remembered by myself as the worst book I read this year.
Even though it reads quickly, it seems to run on a bit.
This shows the consequences of being tantalized. Because the author had a good idea.
Julie Portland, now a New York career woman, returns to her hometown of Lawrence Mill, Mississippi, to seek answers to a ten year old mystery, involving the death of her best friend, Rebecca "Reba" McLeod.
The premise is a good one. The problem is Harrigan has no writing style to carry it out. There is nothing about her sentence structure to compel one to read this, the plot contrivances and twists are so predictable, and the payoff, if one can call it that, is not worth the time invested in reading to get to it.
This is a piss poor work of fiction, and I am sorry I read it. But, at least, I can save my girls from the torment. And Haley, dear, do NOT quit your day job!
Southern girls' REAL secrets are likely to be far more compelling and disturbing than these.
I really wish someone had written a better version of this story. I believe it could have been done.
The wrong person just got there, first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you know how Almost Impossible it is to get a publisher to even Look at your potential book!
ReplyDeleteI don't get it!
She must know somebody??
ReplyDeleteVictoria,
At first I thought this was self-published,
but I did some research, and it was not.
Not a big time publisher, but yes she did
get it published. What she needed badly
was an editor to help her rework it.
Of course, if she has no style, the problem
cannot be solved. If she writes another
book, I will not read it!