Restless Dolly Maunder Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2024

The book is simple - except for its writing style. It’s slow and dull, much like the life of a woman at the end of the nineteenth, beginning of the twentieth century. The author doesn’t bother with details of daily life; instead, the book skims over the milestones without going deep into anything. I happened to read this alongside a biography of Jack London. By comparison: as a biographical novel, it’s boring; as a feminist work, it’s too superficial. The writing itself isn’t bad, but it all comes down to, "I will describe life on the farm with the most detached, lofty words possible."