A review by detailsandtales
The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie

4.0

In this quiet, beautiful story, I feel like the islands are the main characters: both Innis Mor and the fictional fourth Aran Island, Innis Caillte. I've visited one of the Aran Islands on a day trip as a tourist, so I had some sense in my mind of what the setting looks like in real life, which only added to my experience of this story which is at once quiet, sad and beautiful. I also appreciated the different characters' perspectives, and how they made new lives for themselves together. I was intrigued by the experience of one character in particular, who is deaf on Innis Mor, but then gains hearing when she appears on Innis Caillte. I appreciate that this is disruptive to her, and that she has to make a huge adjustment, and even misses her deafness. And I like the new relationship with language that she develops.