Peculiar Ground

Our Review

Peculiar Ground was massively disappointing. The premise of the book was intriguing but its execution was below par.

When I am given a book for review I always try to at least finish it, no matter how bad I think it is, but this book was so difficult to read that I gave up at around 15%. I wanted to finish it at 3% but I carried on in the hope that the minute areas of promise would spark but it didn’t happen.

My main problem was that the writing was overly wordy, fifty words were used where a few would suffice. It meant that the few times when I began to think the book was ok something would happen to destroy it.

In the 17th Century at the great house at Wychwood a landscaper is hired to design ornamental lakes and an exquisite garden. His presence there stirs up old tensions and all is not as it seems.

Three centuries later in a young girl named Nell watches as the Berlin Wall is erected. When Nell is grown up refugees seek refuge at Wychwood after a conflict.

I felt like this book was a bit too fragmented to work. I really wanted to like it but I didn’t. Judging from the Goodreads reviews though I am in the minority. 

Our Final Rating...