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annegreen 's review for:
The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding
by Holly Ringland
I'm not the first one to say this, but the book is a fairytale for adults. It is full of lush, extravagant scene setting, which Holly Ringland is brilliant at. It stretches the imagination and credibility but that's not a bad thing. Myths, legends, ancient cults and traditions are the building blocks of the story. Described by various reviews as "haunting and magical", it takes in themes of grief, courage, mourning, transformation, the nature of sisterly love, parenting, childhood, motherhood, "wearing your heart on your skin" (the art of the tattoo) and more. This is a weighty load, and sometimes it shows. It's a long book that would have been improved by a lot of cutting, and the multiple themes drag it down and unnecessarily dilute the strength of the story and cloud the characterisations.
Some of the characters came across as impossibly twee, irritating and lacking in credibility, e.g. the Downtown Abbey obsessed Heidi, Flosi, the many wise women all adorned with flowing locks, seashell necklaces and dare I say it, self-righteousness. Esther herself was a trainwreck and didn't seem, despite the attempt at demonstrating transformation, a whole lot improved by the end.
All that said, reading the book was a delightful escapist experience. It's a wonderful depiction of Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands, where I've not been but can imagine. I was surprised to read in the author's note that her planned research trip there was waylaid by Covid and her research on those places was all done at a remove. Which makes it even more stunning.
Some of the characters came across as impossibly twee, irritating and lacking in credibility, e.g. the Downtown Abbey obsessed Heidi, Flosi, the many wise women all adorned with flowing locks, seashell necklaces and dare I say it, self-righteousness. Esther herself was a trainwreck and didn't seem, despite the attempt at demonstrating transformation, a whole lot improved by the end.
All that said, reading the book was a delightful escapist experience. It's a wonderful depiction of Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands, where I've not been but can imagine. I was surprised to read in the author's note that her planned research trip there was waylaid by Covid and her research on those places was all done at a remove. Which makes it even more stunning.