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[personal profile] hoisinsauce posting in [community profile] secretfanspace
I TAKE IT BACK, GO BACK TO FUCKING THE HOUSE!

(https://secretfanspace.dreamwidth.org/2511.html?thread=3560655#cmt3560655)

Welcome back! Chat fandom, weird internet stuff, creative work, games, books, anything! Meme listens, and sometimes even replies!

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Depth: 1

Re: Books - The Black Dress (Deborah Moggach)

Date: 2025-04-01 11:08 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Finished. What the fuck was that book. It went completely mental in the last section.

I can't recommend it. It was promising at first, but the last section was definitely danspace-readalong-sporking material.

She's bi now! Her friend who her husband cheated on her with for 5+ years (and left her for) is in love with her! She's fine with it! They fuck and move in together! Oh no! She's stealing her money! The narrator murdered her husband ages ago! Her (girl)friend knows she murdered him! Now her gf is a rapist! Except "not technically", prolly because the author doesn't wanna fall foul of the rainbow! She's in love with her! No, that was a bluff, she's in love with him! She runs away to live with someone she can't stand! The murder doesn't come up again! She leaves her dress on a beach somewhere. "Oh well that was all rather odd wasn't it? Who can predict LIFE?" Her (girl)friend dies! The end!

I'd be quite annoyed if I'd paid for this.
Depth: 2

Re: Books - The Black Dress (Deborah Moggach)

Date: 2025-04-01 11:11 am (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
(btw, the "bi now" bit comes after this possibility was explicitly rejected right at the start of the book; the narrator is like "I wanted to be lesbian and get with my bi friend but I was only attracted to men". So I'm sorry you can't just "bi now lol" 90% through the book. It makes the whole damn plot not make sense.)

Otoh hey I'm feeling optimistic about my chances of getting a novel published sometime, if this is the standard.

Shame, though. Aspects were good.
Depth: 3

Re: Books - The Black Dress (Deborah Moggach)

Date: 2025-04-01 12:12 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Something that annoyed me about this was the way the het relationships were agonised over, loads of detail, subtle psychological observations-- and then it got to the lesbian stuff and it was just like "oh hey, pussies are everywhere, yeah!!!" I side-eye this narrator anyway for saying "pussy", "panties"-- but the lesbian stuff was so shallow and cavalier; you'd think a woman fucking women for the first time at 70 might reflect on it a bit, especially given she had got with her bestie, but nah. Her 'friend' "gnaws" her breasts. I'd expect another 70 yr old woman to know not to gnaw anybody's breasts. She does write the narrator as being in love with her friend all the way through, but since she strongly rejects sexual possibilities from the off, you'd think she'd be thinking about that beyond "so this was a twist but yolo!"
Depth: 4

Re: Books - The Black Dress (Deborah Moggach)

Date: 2025-04-01 12:14 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Felt like it was included because the author felt it ~added flavour~ iyswim.
Depth: 4

Re: Books - The Black Dress (Deborah Moggach)

Date: 2025-04-01 01:59 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
Ngl that put me off, that's not even remotely hot.

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