Review: Like a Flower in Bloom

Like a Flower in Bloom by Siri Mitchell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Siri Mitchell is one of the best all time writers of our time. She is adept at all the mechanics of storytelling. Don't let that fool you, when a story unfolds seamlessly and seemingly effortlessly, one has a tendency to think something like that just happens. Not.

Mitchell's attention to detail, her tremendously deep research, and her follow-through are all signs of great writing mechanics.

This novel is one of the best that Siri has written. I say that because she admits she doesn't much like botany, but she writes like it is a science closest to her heart. That, my friends, is a very rare talent. Usually, our likes and dislikes bleed all over our stories, but not Mitchell's. That is amazing.

The storyline is quite intriguing. It takes place in an era where women were beginning to become a bit disgruntled with men's assumptions that women were bubbleheaded creatures. Full rebellion had not sprouted wings yet, but Charlotte was definitely disgruntled that she could not publish her own research under her own name, but had to put her father's name on everything from books to articles to correspondence.

Charlotte's character is truly like a bud about to bloom. She opens up to new things so that she can go back to the old things--the way things were before her uncle convinced her father that she simply must get herself a husband. Mitchell sculpts with delicate hands each character's behavior so you have a giant spring bouquet of character's.

The reader is not burdened with inconsequential back stories inserted in the worst places. All the cracks are not filled in as each page turns so the story unfolds by the sure fire way to make it a page-turner -- questions arising and being answered in a seamless flow. No disjointed dialogue, no characters acting or saying bizarre things our of character, no revelations to spoil the reader's anticipation to interrupt the flow or damming the flow.

Mitchell is a master craftsman with words so that you get a full, satisfying experience. No infernal head-hopping or jumping! Praise the Lord! And faith is interwoven exquisitely like golden threads throughout. A truly magnificent and fun offering. Well worth the money! I rank it six of five stars.



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