[gmw]

I'm still struggling to finish it. Time has been short and the book has been hard work. Anne Brontë really knows how to belabour the point. No subtlety, not much (sorely needed) humour. When the characters do get a chance to express themselves they aren't too bad, but far too often the author takes the words out of their mouths and tells us explicitly. I'm tempted not to bother finishing ... but will struggle on a bit further (while I've got this much other stuff going on I may as well have a book going that isn't going to distract me too much).