Last year I read Anne by [[Constance Fenimore Woolson]] after learning about the author on a vacation to Mackinaw Island in Michigan. I loved that book - 5 star read with great characters a fun plot and great descriptive writing. I've been looking forward to reading more of Woolson's work and picked up [East Angels] next. Unfortunately, I didn't find it as well done as Anne.

East Angels is about love and secrets and bad choices. There is a young girl, Garda, who is the focus of the first half of the book. As she grows up, her love interests are the focus of the book. In the second half, the interest sort of shifts to a slightly older woman who is Garda's guardian and we get to hear her back story and follow whether she'll end up happy or remain in her frustrating marriage.

The plot is pretty weak. And the characters, especially the secondary characters, are stereotypical and not particularly developed. The one thing that I still enjoyed in this book is the setting and nature writing. This takes place in Florida, I think in the St. Augustine area, and Woolson really evokes the setting well and incorporates the setting into the plot. This saved the book for me.

I hate writing a negative review about a lesser-known woman author, especially when I loved the first book I read by her, but I wouldn't really recommend reading this as an example of Woolson's work. I will give her another try since I've been split on the two novels that I've read by her. ( )