"Good to a Fault" was one of my favourite books and this was a bit disappointing. It took me ages to get into it. There were so many characters that I couldn't keep track of them. In the end I enjoyed this book and was sorry when it came to an end. But "GTF" was still my favourite.

Ho hum

Set in Canada (for the most part) and covering the First World War (and a handful of years before it), The Little Shadows is about three sisters and their experiences in vaudeville. It's pretty interesting (historically speaking) with some interesting characters too. I liked it, more so in the second half. The girls' mother decides they must enter the vaudeville circuit when their father dies because they have no other way to support themselves.

I really enjoyed learning about Vaudeville and liked the "Girls" well enough but something was missing. This novel just did not "wow" me.

This interesting novel opens in 1912 as a stage mother is auditioning her three attractive daughters for the vaudeville stage. The mother has refused to accept charity or assistance from her late husband's family, determined to be self-suporting and unwilling to address some past conflict. I really enjoyed this book BUT I found the first 100 pages (or so) to be tedious. There is simply too much detail about their developing stage act; add a song...add a dance...remove a song...sing in different key...sing solo...sing duet..and on...ond on. But at some point my interest became engaged and I became totally enchanted with the characters. The three sisters develop and mature in this strange world of the vaudeville circuit as their mother deteriorates in health and spirits. The other performers become their family as they face love, betrayal, heartbreak, success and failure. As the story progresses WWl becomes a reality that affects everyone's life. I found this novel to be a very satisfying book and I only wish the author had followed that old show biz wisdom.....dazzle them in the first act so they stay after the first intermission.

I was looking forward to reading this book - the cover is beautiful! - but I kept dozing off and couldn't really become interested in the characters. It all seemed so choppy and cluttered, with a lot of details that didn't add up to anything in the long run. I read about a quarter of it and then put it aside. Life's just too short, so I didn't force myself to finish. Really disappointed!

I loved 'Good to a Fault' but after 100 pages, I still couldn't get into this story. What a disappointment, as I was eager to read this. I'll put it aside for another try at a later time.

"a counter-narrative to the dominant man’s-eye view of the Wild West." John Barber Globe & Mail