Helpful Score: 1
This is kind of an unusual book from the inspiration even to the way the story comes together. This book was inspired by an old newspaper article about a woman stowaway in a white evening gown.
The book starts out promising with a group of first class passengers boarding a boat headed to NY with a mysterious and elegant stowaway without a male escort on board. Amongst the passengers relationships bloom, promises are broken and the characters secrets are VERY slowly revealed.
Valentina the main character and the "woman who only wears white" is escaping an unhappy love life and a mysterious past. We also have Henri who is an outlandish and philandering sort of man. Then there's Billie who is a mistress, William who is also a philanderer and who is envious of the possessions of others, there's Lily who is one of the only genuine characters on board and finally there's the love interest of Valentina, Thomas. Then there are many other couples aboard whom we are very briefly introduced to.
What could've been a very interesting and original story was bogged down by not enough character development in the beginning of the book. Almost immediately after you are introduced to the characters aboard the flashbacks and even flash-forwards start. The flashbacks and flash-forwards are told from alternating character point-of-views and interviews with the ships crew, one after the other. Personally, I found it confusing since it started so early in the book (in the 1st or 2nd chapter) and continued on. I thought this book would've been better if the characters were more developed before the flashbacks began. Flashbacks and flash-forwards are a difficult thing to make fluid in this type of storyline and in my opinion there were way too many of them.
Overall, this is a decent book and if you are looking for a unique type of historial romance or character study then you will probably enjoy it. If you are a reader who doesn't enjoy constant flashbacks and flash-forwards in the plotline then you probably will not enjoy this book.
The book starts out promising with a group of first class passengers boarding a boat headed to NY with a mysterious and elegant stowaway without a male escort on board. Amongst the passengers relationships bloom, promises are broken and the characters secrets are VERY slowly revealed.
Valentina the main character and the "woman who only wears white" is escaping an unhappy love life and a mysterious past. We also have Henri who is an outlandish and philandering sort of man. Then there's Billie who is a mistress, William who is also a philanderer and who is envious of the possessions of others, there's Lily who is one of the only genuine characters on board and finally there's the love interest of Valentina, Thomas. Then there are many other couples aboard whom we are very briefly introduced to.
What could've been a very interesting and original story was bogged down by not enough character development in the beginning of the book. Almost immediately after you are introduced to the characters aboard the flashbacks and even flash-forwards start. The flashbacks and flash-forwards are told from alternating character point-of-views and interviews with the ships crew, one after the other. Personally, I found it confusing since it started so early in the book (in the 1st or 2nd chapter) and continued on. I thought this book would've been better if the characters were more developed before the flashbacks began. Flashbacks and flash-forwards are a difficult thing to make fluid in this type of storyline and in my opinion there were way too many of them.
Overall, this is a decent book and if you are looking for a unique type of historial romance or character study then you will probably enjoy it. If you are a reader who doesn't enjoy constant flashbacks and flash-forwards in the plotline then you probably will not enjoy this book.
