Isa & May by Margaret Forster

From Goodreads

The curiously named Isamay, a would-be academic, is trying to write a coherent thesis about grandmothers in history - from Sarah Bernhardt and George Sand to the matriarchal Queen Victoria and other influential grannies -- while constantly ambushed by the secrets her own family has been keeping. An only child, she is named after her grandmothers, Isa and May, who were there at her birth and who have formed and influenced her in very different ways. Jealous of each other, they both want to be first in their granddaughter's affections. Isa has an edge, in that young Isamay looks like her, but Isa's reserved and elegant exterior hides startling surprises that could undermine her granddaughter's certainties. May, on the other hand, is plump, indomitable and opinionated, and it's from her that
Isamay inherits her stubborn determination. Isamay, almost thirty, has never wanted children, but suddenly considers changing her mind. Her live-in lover, Ian (always mysterious about his own family history) is sure that he does not want a child.

Engrossing, set in the present but with hooks into the past, this is an unusual story about grandmothers and their potentially powerful role in family life, about nature vs nurture, bloodlines and bridges across generations.

My thoughts

This was one of my local Library Reading group reads. I didn't finish the book by the time of our meeting and at the time, based on what I had read I gave it 5/10 or 2.5 stars.

I recently grabbed a copy to finish the story to see if my thoughts on it had changed and my mark improved at all.

Sadly, my mark didn't improve and to be honest I doubt that I would have missed much if I hadn't finished it.

I found the characters Isa & May like chalk and cheese. I was expecting more from them both and sadly they didn't deliver. l felt that the author could have done so much more with them, but may have lost her way.

Some of the story dragged and the way I thought it might go didn't happen. Isamay herself was a likeable enough character, trying her best to get on in life and find out about her family and all it's secrets.

Will I be in a rush to read another book by this author? I doubt it, but 'never say never'!