The Lost Girl

A good book from a great writer. The book is quite slow at the start and reflects rewriting a story in 1920 that was begun about 1914. Told entirely from the viewpoint of a woman. Intense feelings after the woman falls in love with a traveling stage actor, just as cinema is replacing live vaudeville shows. Not as enjoyable as Sons and Lovers or Women in Love. Excellent narrator.

This isn't my favorite Lawrence novel, but this reader is absolutely the best I have encountered in an audiobook. She is a rare find: a reader who really understands what is and what is not important in a novel, and who is conscious at every moment of what the prose -- and especially the dialogue -- means.

It's unlikely I would have purchased and read this book, but the audible version of this early 20th Century novel made it easy/accessible. I was engaged with the story and impressed with Lawrence's telling of this simple, yet deeply woven, tale. As an contemporary American woman, I experienced the stifling atmosphere The Lost Girl lived in is a reminder of how many women have lived (and some do today), and could better appreciate her desire to break from it, and the courage needed to do so. The prejudices and racism of the day are also reminders of how far we have come (or not).

I am happy I only spent 5 dollars in the sale, and not a whole credit. I looked forward to a nice long literary story.... I just hung in there because I was able to listen during slow time at work. The narrator elongates her syllables in a way that I don't enjoy at all, and the story barely held my interest...and the suddenness of the ending would have infuriated me if I had been one bit emotionally involved in the tale.

I found this to be over wordy and not something that would keep me alert on my commute to work.