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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
White Chocolate and Seaweed, 3 Mar 2009
This is a wonderful story about two sisters, Louisa and Clement, who are "as different as white chocolate and seaweed. They were born four years apart. Louise is the older and she is as steady as a rock. She tries to do what's right and strives to make a good impression. Clem, on the other hand, is a wandering soul. She is an outgoing person who makes friends easily. Men like her. She has a kind of wildness about her. Louisa has always kind of resented Clem.
The girls were raised by their dog raising mother, who reminded me a bit of the dog raising mother in THREE JUNES. Their father let mom run the show. As children the girls were very competitive. It seems they were always in some kind of power struggle.
Louisa marries and lives in New York, while Clem, who becomes a wildlife biologist, wanders from here to there, eventually settling in the Rocky Mountains. They seem to grow closer together as they move farther away from each other.
The chapters in this story alternate from each sister's point of view and Julia Glass really gives her readers an insight into their character. There is a bond between sisters and this book shows how strong it is, stronger than tragedy and cancer. This book warmed my heart and made me feel good, but it disturbed me too. Why that is, I really don't know, but I do know this, I can't recommend I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE, or any book written by Julia Glass highly enough.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A disjointed novel with unsympathetic characters, 5 May 2009
"I see you everywhere" is a story about two sisters, Louisa and Clem. Born three years apart, they are very different and have a complex relationship: irritated by one another but also strongly connected, turning to each other whenever they have crises in their lives. They take turns narrating the story and sometimes it's not clear for a while which sister is talking, although in time it settles to alternate by chapter.
The book spans 13 years, from 1980 through to 1993, with a final chapter set in 2005. Essentially it's a series of disjointed snapshots from the sisters' lives. I found it disconcerting that something momentous could happen in one chapter (a relationship foundering, a head injury causing amnesia), which barely if ever gets referred to again.
I really liked Glass's first novel, "Three Junes", but I was very disappointed by this book. It is a novel which is character driven not plot driven. Unfortunately the characters just aren't very sympathetic or involving. For the most part, I didn't care about any of them. In fact, I actively disliked them (with the exception of an elderly aunt who dies at the start of the book). Having said that, there is a significant event which takes place towards the end of the book (I don't want to give anything away here as it came as a major surprise to me), which made me realise that I cared more about these characters than I had previously thought.
I strongly considered giving up on this book at the 100 page mark, but I persevered. I kept hoping that it would get better and it did improve, but not enough for me to recommend it.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Everwhere in the sense of all over the place, 10 Dec 2009
I, like another reviewer, really struggled with this book. It was impossible to get to grips with the 'thread' because of the way it is written i.e. bits from one sister and bits from the other with the two not really joining together at all. As for :"Alive with the same sensual detail and riveting characterisation....." have I missed something?
The quotation from 'The Times' :- "A wonderfully vivid, truthful novel" - no way.
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