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jefrye t1_j1ckv49 wrote

I read this about a year ago and really liked it. I think it helps to look at it as a coming-of-age story and not a romance: Cassandra is 17, fairly sheltered, and in love for the first time. Of course she doesn't know how to handle the situation and is constantly mistakes! The novel is all about her overcoming those mistakes and growing as a person, which is demonstrated when she refuses both Stephen (because it wouldn't be fair to him) and Simon (because it wouldn't be fair to her). After all, she wasn't in love with Stephen (probably because he's basically her brother) and so was right to turn him down.

Perhaps a bit unsatisfying if you were expecting a romance novel, but it felt like the perfect ending to me as, in the spirit of a true bildungsroman, it shows exactly how Cassandra has come face-to-face with reality and is a stronger person for it. (She's also still incredibly young with her whole life before her.)

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bofh000 t1_j1cu4kr wrote

I agree, it’s - among other things - an exploration of romantic feelings within the coming of age of a very sheltered teenager in a very specific context.

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BomberBootBabe88 OP t1_j1dhlcv wrote

I suppose you're right about Stephen and Simon. I think the problem is that I fell in love with Stephen and wanted him to end up happier, but also that I saw a little too much of myself as a teenager "in love" for the first time in Cassandra. I'm pretty sure I have journal entries that read very much the same as hers after she "falls in love" with Simon.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from the book. I read it because my daughter (who is 5) is obsessed with Disney's 101 Dalmations right now and I got curious about Smith's other work. I know she wrote it because she was living in America and missed England, and having just recently visited England for the first time I miss it too, so I gave it a shot.

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