
The cover of this book, while very attractive, suggests a
cozy novel with cute animals and folksy locals.
The blurb suggests a conventional romance—but this is also not
delivered. The story within is more
acerbic comments, the reality of raising animals for slaughter, and the problem of
bonding with nice people when the great majority of people in general are rather
horrible. The rustic locals are
described more how they probably would be than the usual James Herriot/Darling
Buds style of sanitized whimsy. Philippa did grow on me and her anything-but-rose
colored observations of courtship in other people and—with equal honesty—herself
are engaging in a peculiar way. Part
meet cute, part emotional autopsy. But anyone entering this story in the usual ‘cozy’
expectations of an easy read with a ‘nice’ protagonist is going to be very disappointed.
By the halfway point I had begun to suspect the point was
not getting Philippa, eventually, together with Gerald—but determining whether
she really deserved it. Her Asutin-esque
cleverness is repeatedly shown as covering profound emotional incompetence which
is the engine that feeds her class- , nationality- and gender-stereotype heavy
waspishness. The scales have her
intellect and emotional needs on one side, and her past trauma and occasional
casual cruelty on the other and despite the HEA genre categorization, the
outcome does not feel like a foregone conclusion.
However also at about the halfway point Philippa starts
doing the work and the plot accelerates on a sort of exponential path. Many of the main characters end up on a disastrous
overseas vacation which brings out the worst in most of them but gives our
protagonist a moment of vulnerability that leads to a very rushed breakthrough
on the last page. It might have been less rushed if not for the phrase -- “I’d made
a giant f” -- after which the rest of the sentence and maybe a few more is
clearly missing at a rather crucial moment.
Throughout the book there are also some absent speech marks and spaces
suggestion a less than seamless transition from a previous edition to the
current one.
Overall PHILLIPA’S FARM is a dense and enjoyable book that has to be read on its own terms and repays the investment.
Review copy via Netgalley, 9/10
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