Scan barcode
A review by andrew61
Bodies of Light by Sarah Moss
4.0
The book opens with a young woman , Elizabeth, getting ready for her wedding to Alfred Mobberley , a renowned Manchester artist and their journey to North Wales for her honeymoon. Elizabeth's mother is a daunting figure and it is clear early on that Elizabeth has been brought up in a strictly religious and abstemious family where service to those less fortunate dominates.
The book skips forward to Elizabeth , pregnant and then after the trauma of birth failing to bond with her baby daughter Alathea (Ally) while Alfred is concerned with light and painting and runs away from confrontation.
It is this opening which is evocatively told that allows us to understand the story of Ally as we follow her over the next 23 years as she struggles to qualify as one of the first women medical doctors in England. Her childhood is dominated by the presence of Elizabeth a mother who seems to lack maternal warmth and in her pursuit of social equality for the poor , destitute, and women forced into prostitution treats her children with a remarkable cruelty ( there are situations which were very sad in this story) . At the same time Alfred , fully aware of his wife's behaviour seems incapable of protecting Ally or her sister May and allowing his friend and colleague to pose the girls in artistic positions which gave cause for concern.
This is a wonderfully told book which had me glued to the pages as I followed Ally's story. Sarah Moss is brilliant at picking a stray historic thread and weaving it into a beautifully told fictional account of a life ( I think of the Tidal zone and Night Waking where she uses the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral and Victorian midwifery on a Scottish Island with such skill). She seems to craft prose and characterisation with subtlety and I felt as if I was sat in the corner of the family's Victorian parlour or kitchen at times an observer in a play happening in front of me as the characters were so alive.
I particularly loved revisiting the feisty character of May (Ally's younger sister) , the midwife in Night Waking , and I am so pleased that Ally's story will continue in Signs for lost children.
Sarah moss is definitely becoming a favourite author and I can't wait for her next book.
The book skips forward to Elizabeth , pregnant and then after the trauma of birth failing to bond with her baby daughter Alathea (Ally) while Alfred is concerned with light and painting and runs away from confrontation.
It is this opening which is evocatively told that allows us to understand the story of Ally as we follow her over the next 23 years as she struggles to qualify as one of the first women medical doctors in England. Her childhood is dominated by the presence of Elizabeth a mother who seems to lack maternal warmth and in her pursuit of social equality for the poor , destitute, and women forced into prostitution treats her children with a remarkable cruelty ( there are situations which were very sad in this story) . At the same time Alfred , fully aware of his wife's behaviour seems incapable of protecting Ally or her sister May and allowing his friend and colleague to pose the girls in artistic positions which gave cause for concern.
This is a wonderfully told book which had me glued to the pages as I followed Ally's story. Sarah Moss is brilliant at picking a stray historic thread and weaving it into a beautifully told fictional account of a life ( I think of the Tidal zone and Night Waking where she uses the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral and Victorian midwifery on a Scottish Island with such skill). She seems to craft prose and characterisation with subtlety and I felt as if I was sat in the corner of the family's Victorian parlour or kitchen at times an observer in a play happening in front of me as the characters were so alive.
I particularly loved revisiting the feisty character of May (Ally's younger sister) , the midwife in Night Waking , and I am so pleased that Ally's story will continue in Signs for lost children.
Sarah moss is definitely becoming a favourite author and I can't wait for her next book.