Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Book Review: Holding Fast

Title: Holding Fast

Author: Susan Cole

Date: 2021

Publisher: White Bird

ISBN: 978-1-63363-538-8

Quote: "In a few weeks, we're going to move on Laughing Goat and go sailing."

This is reportedly a true memoir about a family who lived on a sailboat until one of them was lost at sea. It is narrated in a matter-of-fact way, not wordy and wooden like the products of ChatGPT or similar, but not showing any special quality of observation or insight that makes me wish I'd received the whole thing. What I received was a "sample," and if any writers think that sending out the first few chapters of a book is any way to get rave reviews, they are mistaken. I don't want to encourage this form of marketing books that, if published by anyone other than the writer, have not sold well. I will say that I received a "sample," read it, and would guess that the whole book would deserve three stars: not very bad, not extremely good, just the sort of story someone needed to tell for her own friends' and family's benefit.  

No comments:

Post a Comment