A Sudden Change of Heart
Grade : D+

I've wondered for a while what the difference is between "women's fiction" and romance because with a focus on relationships, they seemed fairly similar to me. Having now read two women's fiction novels in a short time span, I've noticed some differences. I have to say that I prefer my romance.

Laura Valiant and Claire Benson have been best friends since childhood. Despite the fact that they now live on two different continents and that Laura is married while Claire is divorced and raising a child on her own, they remain as close as ever. Laura and Claire both begin to have personal crises, and Laura's career as an art adviser begins to have ties to art stolen by Nazis.

Here's the problem with this book. That short summary is about all there is plot-wise to this book, yet it manages to be almost 400 pages. If you read the back blurb on this book, it sounds rather exciting. The first thing it mentions is a secret Claire has never told anyone, and then it goes on about how Laura's discovery of stolen art has links to Claire. This definitely sounds more exciting, but it's very misleading.

Bradford describes Laura and Claire's close relationship ad nauseum. After the first three mentions, in almost identical phrasing, of how bonded they are and how like sisters they are, I got the point. Bradford is good with descriptions of Laura's past and her home life, especially her relationship with her wise, all-knowing grandmother. However, said grandmother had a tendency to reminisce about things that turned out to be pretty irrelevant. Anyone home in the editorial department?

I guess the sudden change of heart in the title could apply to both Claire and Laura, but it's really most suited to Laura's love life in the last, say, 10 pages of the book. Laura's husband shocks her with a divorce mid-story, but she goes on with life like nothing happened. Then she's suddenly in love with someone we see her with in very few scenes.

The secret in Claire's life really has little relevance to the story, either. It affects her relationship with her ex-husband, but since they're divorced when the book begins (and she has limited contact with him in the book), so what? As for Laura, while she has an interesting career, it's really not enough to support the bulk of a novel. I did learn some things about art, though. This story's subplots had weak links at best, which is not enough to hold a reader's interest, at least not mine.

I've noticed similarities in the two "women's fiction" books I've read recently. Both had bland characters, good descriptive writing about settings, an attempt to throw in some suspense in that misses, an attempt at romance, and a generally flat plot. While I won't completely avoid the genre based on two books, I think I'll give it a rest for a while.

Reviewed by Andrea Pool
Grade : D+
Book Type: Women's Fiction

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date : January 1, 2000

Publication Date: 1999

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