Carol Anshaw

Carry the One by Carol Anshaw is an unusual Novel. I first read a rave review for this book in a magazine. The review was so riveting that I ordered the book immediately.

The story begins in 1983, with five drunk and drugged-up friends accidentally killing a young girl as they drive home from a wedding in Wisconsin. What follows is 25 years chasing penance, with plenty of disappointments.

I found the characters in the novel quite cold and found it very difficult to get involved with the characters or the story. The plot is a bit thin and to be honest it had great difficulty holding my interest. I did enjoy the first 30 pages and thought I was in for a 5 star read, but after the 100 page mark I struggled to even pick up the book and I know my reluctance in reading really shows my disinterest in the Novel.

The writing in the novel is quite good and this is the reason I gave the book 2 stars however a book must also have either an absorbing plot or interesting characters to hold my interest and with Carry the One this was where it fell short. I was glad to finally get to the end.… (more)