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fates_fables_golem's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
kwubs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
one of my clients bought me this book as he'd enjoyed it so much, it's very dark in places, much more than I was expecting and surprising as if you wanted to you could identify the island and therefore the members of the community involved in the darker moments. I'm not sure how she managed to stay on the island, but stay she did and developed an amazing relationship with the island's flora and fauna.
jovanafinlebrun's review against another edition
3.0
Het was niet helemaal wat ik ervan had verwacht. Hier en daar vond ik het een beetje eenzijdig weergegeven naar mijn gevoel. Maar er zaten wel ook mooie en ontroerende stukjes in, met als favoriet het stukje dat ze een vogel adopteert die eigenlijk geen kans van leven meer heeft. Haar connectie met de natuur is wel inspirerend.
paulsnelling's review
2.0
I found this really annoying.The author’s initial journey was fleeing from a life rather than towards a new one and this might account for the unpreparedness which characterises the initial section. It’s a very self-centred book in that it’s not really about her integration (or lack of it) to the island community which she doesn’t name (It’s Lismore – as a 10 second google search reveals). There are also some accounts online of how some islanders are a bit annoyed about the tone of the book, which does not paint them favourably – despite a wholesome acknowledgement. There’s quite a bit about how she is snubbed, and much worse, but very little – apart from her deep and tragically ending friendship with an older woman, also an incomer – about what she did to try to join the community. She declined offers of help and seems put out that they stopped. She is quoted in a newspaper article as saying the individuals she describes are amalgams rather than specific individuals, and while I don’t doubt the events she describes, they are certainly partial acounts, as they must be, but there doesn’t seem to be much willingness to see the other side. After a series of bad fortune, she gradually rebuilds, based on a love of the natural world, and somewhat improbably, extreme cold-water swimming. She tells her tale in a poetic prose which appeals initially but rapidly becomes testing – repetitive in places, superficial, and a bit too new-age-mother-earth for me. She’s an interesting character, strong willed, and, well, a bit odd. She remains there, the island now her permanent home, and this is as much a testament to her neighbours with whom she seems to have settled into a relatively peaceable co-existence, as it is to her undoubted resilience.
jakluke's review
5.0
Grit. Tenacity. Solitude. Melancholy. Misery. Wildness. Home.
It was perfect. Not the lightest of books, pretty depressing to be honest, but my soul aches for this type of experience.
It was perfect. Not the lightest of books, pretty depressing to be honest, but my soul aches for this type of experience.