I'm sorry, Mary Alive Monroe, but were you trying to rewrite Jane Eyre? Because you didn't do a very good job. Honestly, the predictability of this book was ridiculous and 50 pages in I said, "Oh, she's trying to re-do Jane Eyre and is failing." SPOILERS AHEAD There is everything from the female protagonist coming to nanny for the male protagonist's 5 year old daughter, to them falling in love, to the lead male being married to a woman who's unavailable to him, to a fire caused by the wife, to blindness in the male protagonist, to a happily ever after with the male and female protagonists. Jane Eyre, no? What's missing, though, is plot intricacy and character development of Jane Eyre. There is no power struggle between young Jane and mature Mr. Rochester, who doesn't view her as his equal and feels no need to be honest or respectful with her. There is an indication of some head games, much like the ones Mr. Rochester played with Jane, in Skyward, but they're clumsily put together and make little sense. The female protagonist is a strong, independent woman who turns to a giggling schoolgirl from just the sight of her handsome employer. Really? REALLY? Do women really buy this kind of drivel? SPOILERS OVERI give Monroe credit for doing research on an actual bird sanctuary, (which is central to the plot of this book) and on the Gullah culture and language, although she DID end up changing (according to a note from the author) some of the intricacy of the language to make it easier for her readers to understand. I don't think Monroe gives her readers enough credit, although the simplistic way this is written suggests that she feels her readers are actually people who don't like or want to read.What I cannot overlook, however, are blatant mistakes in the plot. For example, the thunderstorm the defies physics, in which thunder, somehow, happens BEFORE lightening. Or sudden changes to dialogue that are completely out of character for the person speaking. For example, the female protagonist, who is from Vermont, uses phrases like, "Ever so much better." I know Monroe really wanted this to be like Jane Eyre, but come on, keep the characters true to who you've set them up to be.Overall, this gets 2 stars, and not 1, because I was able to get through the entire book in a reasonable amount of time and didn't throw it at anything. I would not recommend.
This book had several positive attributes. It was meant to be a light, romantic type of read and as such, it succeeded. It was set in South Carolina and the author conveyed a genuine feel for the area. The story revolved around characters who worked at a bird sanctuary and the author obviously did her homework on raptors. OK, that was the good stuff.The not-so-good: well, the bird information was thorough and informative, but if you're not at all interested in birds, I think you're going to find this a bit of a slog to get through. Start skimming! Although the plot is very predictable, I would I have enjoyed it as a light read much more if I hadn't gotten so irritated with the main characters about two-thirds of the way in. I was getting so ticked at the two of them I almost didn't finish the book. (I did finish it, but with a LOT of skimming towards the end.) **SPOILER ALERT**... OK, Harris, you've met your dream woman, woman who has pretty much saved your child's life physically and emotionally; she's overcome her fears to help (and greatly improve) your beloved bird sanctuary; you've fallen totally in love with her.....yet you choose to give your "wife" a second chance. A woman who is a drug addict and has abandoned you and your child more than once and just drops in every couple of years when she needs a place to crash. You've tried umpteen times to help her, yet obviously she doesn't want to help herself. Yet the idea of divorcing her is unthinkable. Yet you decide to choose her over your soul mate. Really. REALLY? Sorry, the book lost me at that point. Yes, of course I knew it would all work out in the end like all good romances do, but it was so ridiculous that I actually couldn't read it.And although fairly well written, I can't help but wonder who (author? editor?) missed the point where Harris and Ella are talking about counting the seconds after lightning strikes and thunders begins in order to determine how far away it is, then two paragraphs later they're listening to thunder crashing BEFORE the lightning!?! I know, that's picky, but it bugged me.
What do You think about Skyward (2005)?
To me the magic of this book was not the story, as much as it was the birds and the South Carolina lowcountry. The story was, despite my history as a pediatric nurse, incidental. Btu reading of the raptors, now that was something!I do admire Mary Alice Monroe's ability to capture our area and focus in on a habitat or a species or environment. She did it with Beach House and the turtles, too. And her characters seem very, very real to me. Not always clever or perfect or beautiful, but then again, neither am I!
—bookczuk
Lovely atmosphere of a South Carolina natural preserve, complete with secluded world of a bird sanctuary and vivid characters who have their own struggles, stubbornness, diabetes... It rates three stars for its predictability and the fact that Lijah and Marion were the best characters, as the protagonists never really grew on me. A technical error hopefully has been corrected in later editions, as during a thunderstorm, characters count seconds between thunder and lightning, not the other way around, which given that they are both scientists is a bit silly.
—Natalya
I enjoyed this book and was interested to read it after reading The Butterfly's Daughter and also The Beach House.The story involves nurse Ella who burnt out,takes on a job looking after a five year old child with juvenile diabetes and the interaction between her and Harris, the child's father and other members of the buird sanctuary. I liked the information about the birds added in but really it was the characters and the situation that kept me reading and wanting to read straight through. My one reservation was the end which I thought was a rather convenient way out of the situation, but still a good read.The other thing I loved about this book was the poem Contretemps at the front by Marjory Wentworth. It sent me hunting for more about her and her poetry.
—Dale Harcombe
