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rosiekp 's review for:
Private Rites
by Julia Armfield
I fell in love with Julia Armfield’s writing from the moment I laid eyes on the first page of Our Wives Under The Sea, forcing myself to not devour her words but take my time with them, knowing even from that first sentence that I would be bereft when I came to the end of all she’s published so far.
And here I am, feeling just that. There’s a quality to her writing that I have yet to find anywhere else, the kind of description and world building that entirely submerges you in these stories that are both raw and human, and otherworldly, a place of science fiction. There’s two tales going on at once: something achingly relatable and ‘normal’, characters with relationships that are so rich in detail, flaws that feel curated in a way that it could be someone you know, anyone really. And then the element of dystopia. The strangeness of the weather, of sea creatures, of something unknown lurking in the dark. Armfield is exceptional at both, at intertwining the two seamlessly.
All that to say that this book is hauntingly good. Perhaps the best book I’ve read in years. I will have to wait somewhat patiently to see what Armfield brings us next, but regardless, I know I’ll be reading it.
And here I am, feeling just that. There’s a quality to her writing that I have yet to find anywhere else, the kind of description and world building that entirely submerges you in these stories that are both raw and human, and otherworldly, a place of science fiction. There’s two tales going on at once: something achingly relatable and ‘normal’, characters with relationships that are so rich in detail, flaws that feel curated in a way that it could be someone you know, anyone really. And then the element of dystopia. The strangeness of the weather, of sea creatures, of something unknown lurking in the dark. Armfield is exceptional at both, at intertwining the two seamlessly.
All that to say that this book is hauntingly good. Perhaps the best book I’ve read in years. I will have to wait somewhat patiently to see what Armfield brings us next, but regardless, I know I’ll be reading it.