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A review by georgiewhoissarahdrew
Time's Echo by Pamela Hartshorne
4.0
This was terrific - and genuinely scary. It's not quite a ghost story, not quite a historical novel, not quite a love story, but a great fusion of all.
Grace, traumatised by memories of the 2004 tsunami, comes to York and relives the difficult life of a C16th girl, Hawise. Slowly, we see her life and Hawise's intertwine and realise Grace's fate is bound up with Hawise's end. The sinister apple motif that occurs in a number of circumstances throughout the book is ingenious, and it's not until the end, when I was reflecting on the book, that I became conscious of all the ways it's used - clever.
There's an effortless sense of C16th York (without too much godwottery), and an unexpected and moving lovestory developing there - and, quite separately, but in parallel, a C21st version too. Neither lovestory is given much time to develop, which I can understand, given that the main focus is on the haunting/possession theme, but there was enough in the light touch approach to have me wanting more.
Incidentally, [a:Pamela Hartshorne|3147675|Pamela Hartshorne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351466122p2/3147675.jpg] also writes as [a:Jessica Hart|8717|Jessica Hart|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1366202791p2/8717.jpg].
Grace, traumatised by memories of the 2004 tsunami, comes to York and relives the difficult life of a C16th girl, Hawise. Slowly, we see her life and Hawise's intertwine and realise Grace's fate is bound up with Hawise's end. The sinister apple motif that occurs in a number of circumstances throughout the book is ingenious, and it's not until the end, when I was reflecting on the book, that I became conscious of all the ways it's used - clever.
There's an effortless sense of C16th York (without too much godwottery), and an unexpected and moving lovestory developing there - and, quite separately, but in parallel, a C21st version too. Neither lovestory is given much time to develop, which I can understand, given that the main focus is on the haunting/possession theme, but there was enough in the light touch approach to have me wanting more.
Incidentally, [a:Pamela Hartshorne|3147675|Pamela Hartshorne|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351466122p2/3147675.jpg] also writes as [a:Jessica Hart|8717|Jessica Hart|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1366202791p2/8717.jpg].