Book Review: The Awakening of Miss Prim

Book: The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: July 8, 2014

Description:

In this #1 international bestseller, a young woman leaves everything behind to work as a librarian in a remote French village, where she finds her outlook on life and love challenged in every way.

Prudencia Prim is a young woman of intelligence and achievement, with a deep knowledge of literature and several letters after her name. But when she accepts the post of private librarian in the village of San Ireneo de Arnois, she is unprepared for what she encounters there. Her employer, a book-loving intellectual, is dashing yet contrarian, always ready with a critique of her cherished Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott. The neighbors, too, are capable of charm and eccentricity in equal measure, determined as they are to preserve their singular little community from the modern world outside.

Prudencia hoped for friendship in San Ireneo but she didn't suspect that she might find love—nor that the course of her new life would run quite so rocky or would offer challenge and heartache as well as joy, discovery, and fireside debate. Set against a backdrop of steaming cups of tea, freshly baked cakes, and lovely company, The Awakening of Miss Prim is a distinctive and delightfully entertaining tale of literature, philosophy, and the search for happiness.



Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Review:

This was a little hard to rate because there were times when I thought this book was really charming and wanted to read more of it but then it would become frustrating to read and made me dislike it. And despite this story being set in modern times, it read as if it was set during the 19th century with the way the characters were acting.

The story follows Miss Prudencia Prim as she takes a job in a small town as a personal librarian to a rather mysterious and eccentric gentleman. Throughout the book the man is referred to as the Man in the Wingchair since he was sitting in a wingchair when she first met him.

The Man in the Wingchair is currently raising his four nieces and nephews and is responsible for most of their education. He also teach to other children in the town. Which is something that quite a few of the residents do.

I was really hoping I would like this because the town is based on people who wanted to get away from a fast paced life and wanted a place to enjoy the simpler things in life. But the way the town functions and the way the people act it’s a little kooky.

Prudencia is way too uptight and stubborn which doesn’t make her likeable. She constantly gets upsets over things people would say to her especially in regards to something the Man in the Wingchair would say and instead of just taking the time to explain things she runs off. But one incident I can understand her getting a little upset about was the women in the town decided to find a husband for her which was announced at a meeting that Prudencia attended.

However, sometime later (after she cooled down and thought about it), she decides to take the women up on their offer to help her find a husband. Which they compare it to a mystery. She ended up with a list of potential guys most being from her past which she quickly crossed out but there was one name on the list that was represented with a question mark. It's wasn't too hard to figure out who the ? was for. The Man in the Wingchair.

I thought The Man in the Wingchair was out of some old book. He didn't seem as if he was a modern character.

I really wished this book had been amazing because based on the premise it seemed like it would be the sort of book I would get lost in but Prudencia's journey wasn't that interesting. But I did enjoy the descriptions for various literature, artwork, and food that were being discussed throughout the book but these bright spot were not enough to make this an enjoyable book.

I guess I was expecting a bit more self discovery for Miss Prim but I did find the way the author left the ending to be interesting.