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A review by readliterally
The Visitors by Simon Sylvester
4.0
Trigger warning (for future readers): somewhere around the second half of the book there's a rather explicit sexual assault scene (doesn't end in rape)
I read a chapter of this book earlier this year. I didn't know why, but I couldn't get into it at all. Turns out it just wasn't the right time and place. Because this book is just a perfect read for autumn days. No joke.
There is something hauntingly captivating about this book. The setting, the wonderful writing that evokes images in your mind - easily enough for me to want to make a film based on it - the general mood of the novel... It all brings the fictional island of Bancree (in real life Scotland) and selkie folklore to life. I was totally enchanted. Perhaps to some the story might have been boring and dragging - let's be real, no proper action happens until the last few chapters. But honestly? It only adds to the general idea of slow life in a remote place.
Simon Sylvester clearly has a vast knowledge of Scottish culture and a charming style of writing, and I applaud him for it. Partially, he tells the story of traditional sennachies. When I was reading the epilogue I realised that the book itself - Flora's story - might be a sennachie tale as well. Wonderful. A startingly good debut novel.
I read a chapter of this book earlier this year. I didn't know why, but I couldn't get into it at all. Turns out it just wasn't the right time and place. Because this book is just a perfect read for autumn days. No joke.
There is something hauntingly captivating about this book. The setting, the wonderful writing that evokes images in your mind - easily enough for me to want to make a film based on it - the general mood of the novel... It all brings the fictional island of Bancree (in real life Scotland) and selkie folklore to life. I was totally enchanted. Perhaps to some the story might have been boring and dragging - let's be real, no proper action happens until the last few chapters. But honestly? It only adds to the general idea of slow life in a remote place.
Simon Sylvester clearly has a vast knowledge of Scottish culture and a charming style of writing, and I applaud him for it. Partially, he tells the story of traditional sennachies. When I was reading the epilogue I realised that the book itself - Flora's story - might be a sennachie tale as well. Wonderful. A startingly good debut novel.