‘A Day at the Races’ is about a young woman called Nora. We meet her when she’s on her way to France to watch a horse race in. The journey there is a bit disjointed, with Nora’s thoughts and reflections interspersed with descriptions of the scenery. She chats with some of the people on her coach, and then becomes better acquainted with a young man called Richard, whose eyes she doesn’t like…

It's mostly set in 1989, though it feels rather older than that. Unfortunately, despite most of the story being told from Nora's perspective, we never really get to know her. Conversations are stilted and dull, and her thoughts are convoluted, revealing very little about her as a person. I think the novel was meant to be a kind of coming-of-age story, it didn’t work for me at all. There are no surprises, no believable relationships, and the predictable ending is a long time in coming.

I hate to be so negative about a book; evidently the publisher approved of it, and no doubt it appeals to many. The author is quite prolific and has won some prizes for historical fiction, so she's evidently highly thought of. But this is not a book I enjoyed, nor would I recommend it. ( )