Very good beginning, muddled middle and interesting second half that kept me reading till late at night, leading to a disappointing ending. That’s how I could describe Anna Quindlen’s Still Life with Bread Crumbs. I still think it’s a good piece of writing, I just have some problems with the execution.
This story is a portrait of Rebecca Winter a photographer whose career is not going great and her financial situation a bit shaky. She moves away from the New York City to save her life, basically.
I had high hopes for this book and it wasn’t disappointing completely, but it didn’t thrill me either. The construction was definitely interesting and while I didn’t enjoy the information about the future which always ended with ‘but that was later’, I really liked the parenthetical interjections. They were smart and made the story complete.
There’s something missing there and I just can’t put my finger on it. It feels like there were quite a few fillers not really necessary for the story itself and they felt like they were there to avoid talking about some other things. As much as it is well written it misses some depth. I was only fully immersed in the story for a short time. The rest was observation.
Have you read it? Or maybe other Anna Quindlen’s other work? Should I try something else by her to wash off the slight disappointment?
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