A review by leasockzoe
The Fell by Sarah Moss

3.0

3.5

The Fell is a multi-perspective story set during
November 2020 - the height of the Covid 19
pandemic. At the center of the narrative is Kate,
divorcee and mother to Matt. In the middle of her
two week quarantine Kate is feeling smothered and
decides to take a quick walk through the moors
behind her home, and be back before anyone
notices. However, when Kate falls and is critically
injured, the characters' focus shifts to her safe
return.

I am still grappling with my thoughts around this
read. The writing style was very "stream of
consciousness-esque" and lacked the use of
quotation marks, which I don't mind. The isolation
theme was deeply accurate and focused around the
characters being forced to live with their own
thoughts. Isolation of all kinds was addressed, not
just isolation as a result of a pandemic, but isolation
resulting from the loss of a loved one, divorce, injury,
etc. The discussion around the Pandemic in general
was very real and poignant from the consequences
of not following guidelines to the negative aspects of
quarantine (victims being stuck at home with their
abusers). The book also went past the discussion of
Covid into other serious topics involving illness,
depression, suicide, divorce, and death.

With all of this being said, I'm greedy, and I
wanted more. This experience was just far too short
for me. I would have eaten up 300+ pages of this
story with a deeper dive into the lives of each
character and the ways they converge. Don't get me
wrong, I very much enjoyed the book and will