⋙ Read The Sunflower Girl Sara Hylton 9780312156671 Books

The Sunflower Girl Sara Hylton 9780312156671 Books

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The Sunflower Girl Sara Hylton 9780312156671 Books

After reading Sara Hylton's incredible book 'My Sister Clare', I knew that I wanted to discover more of Ms. Hylton's other novels. I stumbled upon 'The Sunflower Girl' and decided to give this promising book a try. After a few good reads, I have to admit that I was rather not intrigued and was not really looking forward to finishing the book. But after forcing myself to read just a few more chapters, I became more and more curious as to what may become of Marie Claire's future after getting pregnant at 16 years old.

'Sunflower Girl' is, of course, about a young French girl named Marie Claire with dreams of going to a university in a world dominated by men. The year is 1894 and in the summer season, where the young Marie Claire meets the handsome British gentleman, Andrew Martindale. The story really begins when Marie Claire goes to Dijon, France, to look for a job for both her daughter and herself. She is despised, slandered, and scandalized after the birth of her daughter whom she names Chantal. She triumphs, however, and leads a luxurious life. Because she is full of anger, revenge, and hatred towards Andrew, she stirs up many controversies with André, the Vicomte of Mirandol, and the British monarchy.

Andrew Martindale, after meeting Marie Claire of course, goes back to England to receive his inheritance as the new viscount. He really forgets about Marie Claire and has no idea about the child. So he never returns to France and he carelessly marries, has kids, and becomes the next Earl. Andrew and Marie Claire don't meet until the end of the book, after the death of his daughter, Grace, who died in the historical Titanic with her newly-wed husband.

Chantal, on the other hand, goes through a series of insecurities and instabilities as she sees her mother get swirled in rumours, scandals, and drama with the Vicomte of Mirandol, André. She gets sent off to Switzerland to study with the British girls where she unknowingly meets her half sister Grace and her father, Andrew. Chantal goes through a series of drama herself when she falls in love with her half brother, Sebastian...I mean, who could blame her...Her mother Marie Claire hasn't told her who her father is and if he has children. Luckily so, Chantal discovers the truth about Sebastian and who her father is. She runs away from it all. The most important of all is seeing Chantal growing up from a little girl to this beautiful, sophisticated, and intelligent woman who ends up marrying an Austrian musical celebrity genius, Dieter, at 22years old. They move to America after WW1 and after their last visit to Marie Claire in Bordeaux, France.

The story is really full of plots and twists and thrills and romance...I really felt attached to Marie Claire and Chantal Grolan. I could understand them and as the book came to an end, I found myself wanting to know more about their lives. I did not want the book to close, but we all know that eventually a book must be finished. I give this book props up with a humbling 4stars. It is, in my opinion, one of Sara Hylton's ultimate best and one of my top ten along with 'My Sister Clare'. I urged you to read it with an open mind despite its few incorrect grammars lol. Because, overall, it's an amazing world in Paris with Marie Claire and Chantal ;)


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The Sunflower Girl Sara Hylton 9780312156671 Books Reviews

I don't usually write a review for a book unless I've actually read it all the way through from start to finish. But since I doubt I'll ever bother finishing this one, it's now or never. I first opened it up and began to read it several weeks ago, and since then I've only managed to get through 20 pages of it, and even those few pages were unpleasantly painful, slow going.

Why? Well, I'm a stickler for correct grammar. I may be a bit of a rebel in real life, but I like anything I read or write to follow strict rules. There is a logical order to the way sentences should be constructed, about where they should begin and end, and where punctuation should be inserted. Every writer has their own personal style, but we all usually adhere to certain standards. However, as far as I'm concerned, this writer has gone too far and broken the rules, to the point where I find her work painful to read. Not only that, but some of her sentences don't even make sense, given that the punctuation has been left out of important places. Worst of all, though, she has an annoying habit of stringing together what should be several sentences to make one long sentence. Let me illustrate this point by giving you a few examples of her actual work...

'Her father was a terrible gambler, they never had any money, why I remember that she was happy to wear hand-me-downs from a great many older girls in my family and in other families we knew.' OR 'I do so love the house in Bath, it's so much cosier than this one for a family reunion and Daniel always loved it, he was always so well in Bath when he was small.'

Now, personally, I would have broken up each of those sentences with full stops, turning them into several sentences. But maybe that's just me. If you don't see any fault whatsoever in this style of writing then you may well like this book. And if you like sentences that go on and on, line after line, without any punctuation at all, not even a comma, then so much the better for you. Just don't expect me to like it. I prefer the elegance and order of correct punctuation, thanks.

I should also add, it's not just the grammar that bugged me about this. So far, inasmuch as I've read, the storyline seems to be just a collection of cliches, supposedly pretty but ultimately pointless descriptions, and ill-defined characters, none of which appeal to me in the least. There's nothing here that other writers haven't done before, and that they haven't done much better.

I would have given this book a lower rating than two stars, but for all I know it might improve a little as it goes on further past the bit I've read. I don't see how it possibly could, but I have to give it the benefit of the doubt, just in case.

But, hey, why just rely on my critique? If you want the opinion of a less biased critic, one who's not so picky about grammar, then read this A spider crawled into my house the other day, saw this book propped open, and began enthusiastically racing towards it, clearly thinking it would be a totally brilliant place to make his nest and create a home for himself. That spider found no fault whatsoever with this book, and probably thought his creepy crawly little babies would like it too. I almost felt guilty snatching the book away from him, since he clearly liked it way more than I did.

So I guess the moral of the story is that if you're a spider, this is a five star book, and well worth purchasing. But if you only have two legs, and aren't looking for a place to build a web, and can read, you might not find it quite so enchanting.
After reading Sara Hylton's incredible book 'My Sister Clare', I knew that I wanted to discover more of Ms. Hylton's other novels. I stumbled upon 'The Sunflower Girl' and decided to give this promising book a try. After a few good reads, I have to admit that I was rather not intrigued and was not really looking forward to finishing the book. But after forcing myself to read just a few more chapters, I became more and more curious as to what may become of Marie Claire's future after getting pregnant at 16 years old.

'Sunflower Girl' is, of course, about a young French girl named Marie Claire with dreams of going to a university in a world dominated by men. The year is 1894 and in the summer season, where the young Marie Claire meets the handsome British gentleman, Andrew Martindale. The story really begins when Marie Claire goes to Dijon, France, to look for a job for both her daughter and herself. She is despised, slandered, and scandalized after the birth of her daughter whom she names Chantal. She triumphs, however, and leads a luxurious life. Because she is full of anger, revenge, and hatred towards Andrew, she stirs up many controversies with André, the Vicomte of Mirandol, and the British monarchy.

Andrew Martindale, after meeting Marie Claire of course, goes back to England to receive his inheritance as the new viscount. He really forgets about Marie Claire and has no idea about the child. So he never returns to France and he carelessly marries, has kids, and becomes the next Earl. Andrew and Marie Claire don't meet until the end of the book, after the death of his daughter, Grace, who died in the historical Titanic with her newly-wed husband.

Chantal, on the other hand, goes through a series of insecurities and instabilities as she sees her mother get swirled in rumours, scandals, and drama with the Vicomte of Mirandol, André. She gets sent off to Switzerland to study with the British girls where she unknowingly meets her half sister Grace and her father, Andrew. Chantal goes through a series of drama herself when she falls in love with her half brother, Sebastian...I mean, who could blame her...Her mother Marie Claire hasn't told her who her father is and if he has children. Luckily so, Chantal discovers the truth about Sebastian and who her father is. She runs away from it all. The most important of all is seeing Chantal growing up from a little girl to this beautiful, sophisticated, and intelligent woman who ends up marrying an Austrian musical celebrity genius, Dieter, at 22years old. They move to America after WW1 and after their last visit to Marie Claire in Bordeaux, France.

The story is really full of plots and twists and thrills and romance...I really felt attached to Marie Claire and Chantal Grolan. I could understand them and as the book came to an end, I found myself wanting to know more about their lives. I did not want the book to close, but we all know that eventually a book must be finished. I give this book props up with a humbling 4stars. It is, in my opinion, one of Sara Hylton's ultimate best and one of my top ten along with 'My Sister Clare'. I urged you to read it with an open mind despite its few incorrect grammars lol. Because, overall, it's an amazing world in Paris with Marie Claire and Chantal ;)