The Steady Running of the Hour

I received a copy of this book for free through GoodReads FirstReads in exchange for my honest review. Here goes.

I'm not going to finish this book. I just can't get over one thing - the dialogue. It's all written like this:

-And what, Imogen wonders, is that?Ashley taps his cigarette on the ashtray.-I couldn't say. It's different for every man.-There isn't a name for it, Ashley says...

The dashes would be fine, if it weren't for all the “Ashley says” or “Imogen wonders” type things thrown in without quotations making you have to re-read every single line after you realize it's not actually part of the dialogue. Not ok.

Otherwise, I think the idea for this story is great, but the writing is just too distracting.

I enjoyed the tension created by the running clock, and the back and forth between present day and the early 20th century. I loved the insights into what it might have been like in the muddy trenches of France in WWI. I was frustrated by Imogene's stubbornness and didn't like the ending. But overall it was worth reading.