The Address

by Fiona Davis
Feb 23-Mar 13, 2018

I saw the Dakota just one time. I wish I would have paid more attention to it. At the time we were more interested in heading to the park to see Strawberry Fields. In the first few chapters of The Address, I was enthralled. How cool to take a look back at the opening days of this famous residence. The story is told in alternating chapters from 1885 and its beginning to "present" day 1985 and its hundred-year anniversary. It feels it's almost needless to say, but the 19th century parts were incomparably better than the modern day perspective. Every single character in the present was unlikable. The dialogue was laughable. But the continued story of Theo and Sara was romantic and fun. And then the story derails...

I bought into this one for the historical fiction aspect, but I somehow missed that it was also a mystery. A silly, trite and far-fetched "twist" that lost all credibility in my eyes. As the two timelines begin to merge, the present day characters become even less likable and the mystery from the past is totally unconvincing. Did people really get wrongfully committed to asylums when they "got in the way?" I might have to read up on that (if I cared enough to keep this book top-of-mind).

Three stars, but only for the first half.

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