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karteabooks 's review for:
The Night of the Flood
by Zoë Somerville
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was so lucky to meet this author at Tasting Notes Live in April 2022 and after hearing her talk about this book, I brought it at the event and devoured it in two days!
Atmospheric, intriguing, deadly and heart breaking. This is a brilliant debut novel from this author, and I have pre-ordered her next novel, The Marsh House already.
This book is based on a real event which happened in January 1953 when the North Sea Flood caused widespread damage as coastal areas were swamped by a deluge of water with waves over 20ft. A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm over the North Sea caused a storm tide. This was a catastrophic event which caused devastating damage to land, property, coastal defences and the human and animal populations. This is a great basis for the book, but there is also a love triangle, a failing family farm, a nearby US airbase that the locals suspect is more than just an airbase; the beginnings of the Cold War and the worries and ignorance of the 1950s.
The North Norfolk coast, where this book is set, holds fond memories for me, so this made this book that bit more special too, and as the story unfolded, I really felt like I was there alongside Verity, Jack, Arthur and Peter and as I read, at times I felt that I could actually feel the cold Winter wind blowing in from the sea, even now a couple of days after finishing the book, I am sure that I can still feel that cold easterly breeze, with the tang of the sea air and fish and chips wafting by too.
For me, this was an immersive plot, I loved the historical fiction too, as this was a real event, and I liked the way that the author interspersed that narrative with the trials and tribulations of families in the early 1950s in a small coastal town. Lots of twists and turns and a real page turner for me, particularly in the second part of the novel, after the flood. The ending was thought provoking, but it did tie things up too. As I mentioned above, I can’t wait for the author’s next book.