This is quite fascinating Barrie, having read the first version to feel the same scene completely differently. I love them both so don't ask me to choose! The second is darker and in a way, more sinister.
No need to choose, Julia, and delighted they both worked in their own ways. I wonder, now that I think of it, whether the ‘darkness’ of the follow up comes from the ‘insider’s viewpoint’ feeling more knowing and thus more complicit in the violence over time. Perhaps. The narration of the first was secondhand, not from someone born in and woven into the culture. Maybe her losses sharpened the telling, not just loyalty but unspoken revenge? ~B
Thank you so much for reading them. I love the new one. I think there is more emotional investment in her story. The first one has that slightly dispassionate observation by the narrator. Yes, I think Signora Scarpetta is one of my favourites.
This is quite fascinating Barrie, having read the first version to feel the same scene completely differently. I love them both so don't ask me to choose! The second is darker and in a way, more sinister.
No need to choose, Julia, and delighted they both worked in their own ways. I wonder, now that I think of it, whether the ‘darkness’ of the follow up comes from the ‘insider’s viewpoint’ feeling more knowing and thus more complicit in the violence over time. Perhaps. The narration of the first was secondhand, not from someone born in and woven into the culture. Maybe her losses sharpened the telling, not just loyalty but unspoken revenge? ~B
Thinking…..
🎯
Merci bien!
I love them both, Barrie, but I’m partial to the most recent told from the perspective of signora Scarpetta.
Thank you so much for reading them. I love the new one. I think there is more emotional investment in her story. The first one has that slightly dispassionate observation by the narrator. Yes, I think Signora Scarpetta is one of my favourites.