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paul314's review against another edition
2.0
This is a maundering soap opera in search of a plot. It only gets that second star because the location, the Isle of Lewis, is compelling. I skimmed.
blue_state_mom's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This is a beautifully written book — the language is lush, particularly the description of Scotland and the ways people have lived there. The content is challenging but it does not leave you mired in darkness. The characters are not stereotypical, and they are able to find a slice of happiness despite hardship.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Rape
tanja_alina_berg's review against another edition
3.0
This is the third book by this author that I've read in fairly short order. I can't say that this book was disappointing, it wasn't. I got to know the main characters from "the Black House" even better. The unraveling of the murder mystery was slow going and in terms of the usual crime novels, unconventional.
A body is found in a peat bog on Lewis. It turns out not to be so very old as firs expected and when DNA tested, shows relations to Tormod MacDonald. This is Marsili's demented father. Fin, who has quit his job as a police on the Scottish mainland, is eager to discover the truth since his childhood flame's father is likely to be the primary culprit of a police investigation.
The story moves between Fin's attempts at discovering the trugh and Tormod's voice, past and present. There is a lot of secrets to be discovered, brought on by the body. Tormod was supposed to be an only child. The going is slow. There is an overwhelming sense of loss. The loss of Fin's and Marsili's hopes and dreams, of Tormod's disappearing short-term memory. It's very different from the usual output in the genre and quite enjoyable in its bleakness.
A body is found in a peat bog on Lewis. It turns out not to be so very old as firs expected and when DNA tested, shows relations to Tormod MacDonald. This is Marsili's demented father. Fin, who has quit his job as a police on the Scottish mainland, is eager to discover the truth since his childhood flame's father is likely to be the primary culprit of a police investigation.
The story moves between Fin's attempts at discovering the trugh and Tormod's voice, past and present. There is a lot of secrets to be discovered, brought on by the body. Tormod was supposed to be an only child. The going is slow. There is an overwhelming sense of loss. The loss of Fin's and Marsili's hopes and dreams, of Tormod's disappearing short-term memory. It's very different from the usual output in the genre and quite enjoyable in its bleakness.
littlesprite21's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
tomsthoughts1234's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
amsa59's review against another edition
5.0
This is a wonderful novel! So much more than "only" a crime novel. The portrait of the old man with dementia is fantastic. And the story of the young orphan boys becoming "homers". The search for what really happened all those years ago makes it unputdownable. I have listened to it read wonderfully by Peter Fforbes with a slightly scottish accent.
doreeny's review against another edition
3.0
This second novel of the Lewis Trilogy opens with the discovery of a body in a peat bog. Fin Macleod, a retired police detective who has returned to the Isle of Lewis, the Hebridean island of his birth, is drawn into the murder investigation when it is determined that the body has DNA links to Tormod Mackenzie, the father of Marsaili, Fin’s first love.
The book has two points of view. Part is narrated in third person, focusing on Fin; other sections are in first person with Tormod as the narrator. This latter point of view is interesting because Tormod suffers from dementia. We learn about his life from his memories of the distant past. Some of the suspense in the novel is derived from our wondering whether Fin will be able to uncover that past without Tormod’s assistance. The problem is that Tormod’s memories are formed into such clear and detailed narratives; this hardly seems believable in a person suffering from progressive dementia.
One aspect of the novel that bothered me is the lengthy descriptions of the landscape and weather. Here’s an example: “The night was filled with the whispering sound of the sea. It sighed, as if relieved by the removal of its obligation to maintain an angry demeanour. A three-quarters moon rose into the blackness above it and cast its light upon the water and the sand, a light that threw shadows and obscured truths in half-lit faces. The air was soft, and pregnant with the prospect of coming summer, a poetry in the night, carried in the shallow waves that burst like bubbling Hippocrene all along the beach’ (252). The descriptions are poetic, but when virtually every chapter includes such descriptions, they soon become tedious. The author is certainly trying to establish the beauty and desolation of the Outer Hebrides, but so many references to the weather are not necessary to do so.
It is best if one has read the first book in the trilogy, The Blackhouse, because characters from it reappear and their stories are further developed. Fin’s relationships with Marsaili and her son Fionnlagh are better understood if one knows what transpired earlier. One of the most interesting aspects of this novel is these relationships. The past weighs heavily on Tormod but it does as well in Fin’s life.
Besides the weight of the past, this book also touches in the mistreatment of children. Fin’s childhood was less than ideal and Tormod’s was even less so. The novel touches on "the homers" - children from broken homes who were relocated to foster families in the Hebrides.
The resolution relies too highly on coincidence. The number of characters who come together at the end is unbelievable. And the foreshadowing of Fin’s comment, “’I wish you hadn’t told him your dad’s name’” (279) doesn’t make the ending more credible.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series; this second one was less satisfying, but I will certainly read the third to find out how it all ends.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
The book has two points of view. Part is narrated in third person, focusing on Fin; other sections are in first person with Tormod as the narrator. This latter point of view is interesting because Tormod suffers from dementia. We learn about his life from his memories of the distant past. Some of the suspense in the novel is derived from our wondering whether Fin will be able to uncover that past without Tormod’s assistance. The problem is that Tormod’s memories are formed into such clear and detailed narratives; this hardly seems believable in a person suffering from progressive dementia.
One aspect of the novel that bothered me is the lengthy descriptions of the landscape and weather. Here’s an example: “The night was filled with the whispering sound of the sea. It sighed, as if relieved by the removal of its obligation to maintain an angry demeanour. A three-quarters moon rose into the blackness above it and cast its light upon the water and the sand, a light that threw shadows and obscured truths in half-lit faces. The air was soft, and pregnant with the prospect of coming summer, a poetry in the night, carried in the shallow waves that burst like bubbling Hippocrene all along the beach’ (252). The descriptions are poetic, but when virtually every chapter includes such descriptions, they soon become tedious. The author is certainly trying to establish the beauty and desolation of the Outer Hebrides, but so many references to the weather are not necessary to do so.
It is best if one has read the first book in the trilogy, The Blackhouse, because characters from it reappear and their stories are further developed. Fin’s relationships with Marsaili and her son Fionnlagh are better understood if one knows what transpired earlier. One of the most interesting aspects of this novel is these relationships. The past weighs heavily on Tormod but it does as well in Fin’s life.
Besides the weight of the past, this book also touches in the mistreatment of children. Fin’s childhood was less than ideal and Tormod’s was even less so. The novel touches on "the homers" - children from broken homes who were relocated to foster families in the Hebrides.
The resolution relies too highly on coincidence. The number of characters who come together at the end is unbelievable. And the foreshadowing of Fin’s comment, “’I wish you hadn’t told him your dad’s name’” (279) doesn’t make the ending more credible.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series; this second one was less satisfying, but I will certainly read the third to find out how it all ends.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
mlhahn's review against another edition
4.0
Not as gripping as the first, but still very good. All-in-one-day good.
hillaryous's review against another edition
4.0
I really love reading books that take place in locations where I’ve been lucky enough to travel and/or live. The books in this series are beautifully illustrious and bring me back to the Isle of Lewis and all of the sensory experiences that accompany the island. I didn’t find the second book in this trilogy as intriguing as the first, but I liked how the storylines of the characters from the first were fleshed out and unraveled even more.
zimo3491's review against another edition
5.0
Peter May compone mosaici, e abilmente sa quando incasellare una tessera o un'altra nel suo quadro. La bravura di questo autore, a mio avviso, è il saper alternare la prospettiva: ti fa entrare nella storia usando due sguardi, quello del narratore onnisciente, quello di un personaggio. Personaggio che, nel caso di questo romanzo, è un anziano affetto da demenza senile: la lucidità con cui racconta dettagli del suo passato, unita al suo totale spaesamento di vivere il presente, lo rendono un protagonista credibile, eccezionale, commovente. La qualità di May, poi, sta nel suo talento di intrecciare fili narrativi suggestivi, non banali, e nello sbrogliarli alla fine, con una maestria unica. In questo secondo romanzo della trilogia ho apprezzato di più proprio quest'ultimo aspetto che nel primo, a mio parere, mi era apparso più ruvido, meno intelligentemente lavorato che qui.