Well, my autumn reading plan is already falling to pieces. I've been reading this book during the entire week, and yet - I'm only half-way through. And I think it might be the right time to admit I may never get further than that. Oh, god, it's so boring.

The story of two elderly sisters coming back together after 47 years sounded interesting. Ginny and Vivi have been inseparable as children, but Vivi went her own way at fifteen and Ginny remained home with her parents. There are multiple passages about the house and its history, as well as the whole family's history, that moved at a glacial pace. I didn't think anything would bore me more than Anna Karenina, but here we are.

I am unsure of what to say. Having abandoned the endeavor of reading this monster, I cannot say too much about the plot because nothing really happened in the first half of the novel. What do I know? Well:

1. Ginny has a certain mental problem. It's not specified, but everyone treats her differently, and her thoughts reveal this pretty quickly. She has no feelings when people in her life are hurt, she feels like an intruder has come to her house when her sister moves back in, she may have killed her mother, and there is just an air of oddness around her. And who knows what happens by the end.

2. Her father, Clive, was a very peculiar man and was obsessed with his moths. She went on in his footsteps and apparently became quite a famous lepidopterist. Her mother, Maud, was a sociable person but started drinking when Vivi left for London. Ginny covered for her, but she became violent due to the alcohol and she soon died. Vivi blames Clive - she thinks he might have murdered her.

3. Vivi was vivacious and friendly, and she was always the one to suggest a course of action for herself and Ginny. Ginny talks about taking care of her little sister, but it seems to me as if had occurred the other way around.

4. Ginny sold almost everything from their family mansion - and this should have earned her a fortune - for pennies because she didn't want to think about it. She loved watching it all go away because it was less of a bother for her.

5. Vivi lost her womb and ovaries when she was very young (I cannot recall the exact age but it was below 10) and this wasn't regarded as a big deal. Everyone, including her, kept saying how lucky she was to even be alive after impaling herself on an iron stake. But Ginny mentions that they were young and that her inability to have children will be a problem as they grow up. So... something might have come up along that vein later in the book.

6. There are a lot of secrets and lots of things left unsaid between the sisters which, I think, has led to many misunderstandings, and which may have been the reason for the rift in the family.