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jacki_f's review
3.0
This is a beautifully written, slow paced book about a small village in rural England. There are four main characters. Howard and Kitty moved to the countryside a year ago after their children left home. Their marriage had been strained for years and the challenges of adapting to a new place have further divided them. Jamie is only 19 and grew up in the area but he is also struggling to find his feet and thinks often about a childhood friend who moved away. Finally there is Jack, a drifter, who comes to the area in search of seasonal farming work.
Not a lot happens in this book. It opens and ends with a car accident in which a character will die, but this is easily the most dramatic event. There is a lot of descriptive writing about the countryside. It feels like a very carefully written book. There are sentences that you want to savour and there are a couple of descriptions of Howard and Kitty's marriage towards the end that rang achingly, beautifully true. And yet it is also frustratingly slow. Things happen, you think "hooray, there's going to be a plot after all", but then they fizzle out again. Even the ending is frustratingly ambiguous. I admired this book, I found the characters interesting, it got under my skin - but it also irritated me.
Not a lot happens in this book. It opens and ends with a car accident in which a character will die, but this is easily the most dramatic event. There is a lot of descriptive writing about the countryside. It feels like a very carefully written book. There are sentences that you want to savour and there are a couple of descriptions of Howard and Kitty's marriage towards the end that rang achingly, beautifully true. And yet it is also frustratingly slow. Things happen, you think "hooray, there's going to be a plot after all", but then they fizzle out again. Even the ending is frustratingly ambiguous. I admired this book, I found the characters interesting, it got under my skin - but it also irritated me.
vhlm's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
carolineroche's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book - every page is beautifully written. [a:Melissa Harrison|49012|Melissa Harrison|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] shows her love of nature all the way through, and a profound understanding of human relationships. I really loved reading it, and dragged my feet on the last few chapters, unwilling to finish it so soon. The book was shortlisted for the Costa in 2015, not surprisingly, and is a book you will read and instantly recommend to everyone else. Read it!
margaret21's review against another edition
4.0
There's much to enjoy about this book. I relished the descriptions of countryside: whether the litter-strewn countryside of the demi-countryside at the edges of towns and motorways, or the fully rural landscape. Melissa Harrison's observations of plant and bird life - minutely different with each passing day - are satisfying. Village life, for good and not-so-good, is described with clear-eyed realism.
Characters too ring true. The vagrant Jack is decribed with sympathy and warmth, and while other characters may be less sympathetic - Howard for instance - all are described with compassion and are believable.
Each vignette in the book feels real. I believed in Kitty and her attempts to embrace a life in which she is to some extent still a tourist. I warmed to young Jamie as he tries to make sense of a less than satisfactory personal and working life. Even Howard's prevarications over the new life he struggles to feel at one with interested and involved me.
Only the plot as a whole failed to convince me. It takes until the very last chapter for the main characters to come together, in a totally unexpected way. The book - intentionally -doesn't answer several of the questions it poses. But I was left with the impression of a plot that was as unsatisfactory and unresolved as life itself. And perhaps this was the point. I'll read other books by Melissa Harrison that come my way. But it's her talent as a nature writer, and as a describer of character that interests me, rather then her skills as a story teller.
Written a month later, as an addendum to my original review. I've changed my mind about the unsatisfying nature of the plot. It's a 'slice of life', and as such has stayed with me, and had me wondering about the characters in the weeks since I originally read the book.
Characters too ring true. The vagrant Jack is decribed with sympathy and warmth, and while other characters may be less sympathetic - Howard for instance - all are described with compassion and are believable.
Each vignette in the book feels real. I believed in Kitty and her attempts to embrace a life in which she is to some extent still a tourist. I warmed to young Jamie as he tries to make sense of a less than satisfactory personal and working life. Even Howard's prevarications over the new life he struggles to feel at one with interested and involved me.
Only the plot as a whole failed to convince me. It takes until the very last chapter for the main characters to come together, in a totally unexpected way. The book - intentionally -doesn't answer several of the questions it poses. But I was left with the impression of a plot that was as unsatisfactory and unresolved as life itself. And perhaps this was the point. I'll read other books by Melissa Harrison that come my way. But it's her talent as a nature writer, and as a describer of character that interests me, rather then her skills as a story teller.
Written a month later, as an addendum to my original review. I've changed my mind about the unsatisfying nature of the plot. It's a 'slice of life', and as such has stayed with me, and had me wondering about the characters in the weeks since I originally read the book.
kelbi's review
3.0
Having read so many Ann Cleeves lately I kept expecting a murder lol. Not much happens in this book but it contains a lovely evocation of the countryside in May and people's varied lives. Sounds like damning with faint praise doesn't it? Maybe
geoffry's review against another edition
4.0
Een zoektocht naar identiteit en ergens thuis horen, waarbij het platteland een enorm belangrijke plaats inneemt zoals alleen 'the English countryside' dat kan.
bexw's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
anasaurus's review
2.0
DNF 58% - this book is beautifully written, it just really isn't for me. I've never enjoyed pastoral works. The mention of a seer on the back cover tricked me into thinking this would be...interesting
louise_seaside's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A reflective look at the lives of four very different characters. Wonderful imagery of nature within the rural area the characters are in. Overall, very perceptive look at village life and the conflicts which sit witiin It.