Review: Interesting Read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 26, 2014
Every parent dreams of giving his or her children a better life. Henry Wakefield is convinced he has what it takes to pull his family out of poverty…at any cost.I was impressed by how much detail Mr. Pearce packed into this story. His descriptions of English life in the early 1800s were so extensive that I felt like I was walking alongside the characters as they struggled to survive. My favourite passages discussed how grimly the weakest members of their society were treated by anyone who thought they could get away with it. They weren’t always easy scenes to digest, but they were so well written that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the page.There wasn’t a great deal of character development in this book. The personalities of both the main and supporting characters relied heavily on the use of certain stereotypes about gender, social class, and religion. There were several scenes that would have been much more effective if I could have better understood why these characters behaved the way they did or what prevented them from learning from their previous experiences.With that being said, this is a fascinating glimpse into the dark side of human nature. It’s easy to point out the faults of others, but it’s far more difficult to be on the other side of that judgement. This tale worked best when it showed just how easy it is to believe that you’re smarter and more resilient than every other person who has been hobbled by the same temptation before.Reading A Weaver’s Web made me feel as though I’d travelled back in time 200 years. This is a good choice for anyone in the mood for a richly detailed historical novel.originally posted at long and short reviews