And since I am a doofus (I do like that word, even though it's so American!) I completely forgot to tell you a little about Andy the other day. I wanted the input of a male reader. Andy was born and brought up in Co. Durham in the NE of England. He now lives in Leicestershire working for the NHS to keep two cats in the manner to which they have become accustomed. Andy, I forgot to mention this, but I am allergic to cats and pretty terrified of them too!
Anyway, eyes down....
Do
you remember what attracted you to Sign of the Times? What made you buy it? – It wasn’t a book
that I’d normally buy. I suppose the bit that caught me was the concept of 12
characters based on 12 star signs. I also like reading about places, and the
setting in Italy and Scotland, one of which I know fairly well and one I have
never visited, I liked.
Many
would assume that Sign of the Times is a chick-lit book. Do you think this is
the case? Why/why not? – I wouldn’t describe it as chick-lit, no. Having said that, what actually is chick-lit?
If it’s a book about women and relationships, then I suppose this has elements
of this, but there’s more to it than that. Is it a book that has its main
character as a woman? In that case that is a definition that covers so many
other books. Aimed at female readership – again, shouldn’t really be limited in
that way So chick-lit? No.
Who
were your favourite male & female characters and why? - Favourite
male character? I’d say Ben. I like the way he
starts off in a place he’d frankly rather not be, but ends up happy. Female –
I’d say Czeslawa. She is so different even from the diverse group of the rest
of the cast, and the way her story develops across the book is a good one. But
I couldn’t not mention Lucy…!
Which were your favourite scenes in the book
and why? - The scene in the Aonach Inn. Apart from
being in an area I do know, it’s one that’s told from a number of different
angles in the story with a number of the central characters involved
What
would you say to potential male readers about this book? (The majority of SOTT readers as far as I
know are female, even though it wasn’t written expressly for women) – I’d say give it
a go. It’s a story that has a number of elements, and the characters are
well written and well described . The
locations are also well described. I know some of the places, and I can
recognise them from the book. The ones I don’t know I can now visualise
As you now know , there will be a sequel to Sign of the Times. Which characters would you like to see given
more prominence in the sequel and why? Czeslawa her family and the business would be good to
follow through, and I’d like to know what’s next for Lucy…see I’m back to her
again!
Which element of Sign of the Times did you like
best? Humour, pace, drama, relationships, or other? I’d say the changes of pace, the
cliff-hangers at the end of sections, the unexpected, trying to see how it all
comes together in the end, it didn’t all work out how you might think
Which sign are you and do you think you are
similar in personality traits to the Sign of the Times character? I'm an Aries and there are some similarities. Impulsive, tick,
competitive, tick, natural athlete…hmm…
Were there any particular locations in the novel
which you particularly liked? Aonach Eagach and the area is part I do know, and I did
enjoy reading about somewhere that doesn’t often get written about. The
description of the Italian leg of the book was so well done I could feel like I’d
like to go there as well
Is there anything that you feel strongly about
that you would have liked to have turned out differently (careful of spoilers
here!)? No
not really. The final scene where things were tied together did its job and
didn’t try to make all the connections. There’s always value on unanswered
questions…
Sign of the Times can be bought from Amazon here - http://amzn.to/GKqZGd (UK) & http://amzn.to/IYN0Fc (US & other .com)
See you back here on Friday for not 1, not 2, but 3 book reviews.......the tension mounts!
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