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The Woman Behind the Waterfall
by Leonora Meriel
Book review
Title: The Woman Behind The Waterfall
Author: Leonora Meriel
Genre: Literary Fiction/Family
Rating: ****
Review: The opening to The Woman Behind The Waterfall was good I loved the imagery of the Ukrainian landscape. We meet Angela and her mother as they bake a cake. Angela seems very perspective and in tune with nature for a child but then again she is seeing the world through the wondrous and naive eyes of a child. Angela talks about her night spirit will she talks to frequently and on this night her spirit tells her that a darkness is coming. We also see her mother Lyuda’s perspective and how she worries for her daughter and numbs her fear with vodka.
I liked Angela as a happy-go-lucky kind of child and I really enjoyed the personification of the male bird that constant hovers over and follows Angela but not a lot has really happened yet in the novel although I am hoping this will change as the novel progresses. Angela’s night spirit also seeks to protect her light from her mother’s darkness, I interpreted this as the spirit is protecting Angela’s innocence from the hardships her mother faced like depression and heartbreak as well.
As we approach the 1/4 mark in the novel we can see despite her young age that Angela can see the weight on her mothers’ heart and how she is beginning to fall apart despite it begin seven years since the love of her life vanished. While the writing style was beautiful and poetic I was finding it really difficult to connect to the characters and the story felt rather disjointed at times. We see Angela’s grandmother and her night spirit work together to help Lyuda gets free of the memories that bind her to the darkness and Angela has to be the one to do it. We also get snippets of Lyuda’s life as well as Angela’s grandmothers life and how the women in this family are all connected through memories and not all of them are good. We see the mistakes of their pasts and the decisions they regretted making. Lyuda’s biggest regret is ignoring her mothers’ advice although if she has listened Angela would have never been born at all.
As we cross the 1/4 mark in the novel we see Angela trying so hard to help make her mother happy but as she learns how deep her mothers’ pain goes she doesn’t think she can do it but her grandmother and night spirit give her new hope and light each time Angela seems drawn to the darkness. I loved the literal rope that connect the three generations and what this rope represents, it was a great use of imagery. By the end of the first part of the novel we see Angela complete her mission of cutting the rope that binds them together and free them all of the pain they have felt. I also loved seeing the relationship between the women mentioned in this novel as they have so many similarities yet so key differences that makes them unique and likeable characters.
As we approach the half way mark in the novel we change time and perspective, we travel back to when Lyuda was just a girl but it is told from Volodiya’s point of view. The pair meeting and getting to know one another was sweet and perfect up until the moment Lyuda sleeps with Volodiya for the first time and this is literally the beginning of the end for the couple. Seeing Volodiya’s point of view really change how I thought of him, up until this point I had seen as a bad person because he left Lyuda and Angela and never returned to see his daughter in seven years but seeing him in this new light allowed me to see him as a young man that was just unprepared emotionally and financially for a child. We can see Volodiya following in his father’s footsteps well on the way to becoming an abusive partner and father and he decides that he can’t do that to his family even though it means leaving them for good, doing this not only break Lyuda’s heart but a part of him as well.
We also get to see how deep the depression Lyuda falls into is and how she even contemplates suicide but she lives on for her child. After this we return to the current timeline and see what happens to everyone after Angela manages to sever the rope binding them. I love how Meriel uses water as a symbol for memories and how she uses the birds to symbolise freedom. Despite the slow and slightly confusing start I was really starting to get into this novel.
As we cross into the second half of the novel we see what Lyuda’s life would have been like if she hadn’t got pregnant with Angela all those years ago and it honestly wasn’t what I expected, and it wasn’t what Lyuda expected either. While she has a great life at this point, they are missing the one thing that will complete them both and it’s the one thing they can never have. I have to admit this book was giving me a lot of sad feelings but I was loving every minute of it. Lyuda almost talks herself into believing this life is enough but she is always left wanting for the one thing she can’t have.
As we approach the 3/4 mark in the novel we see Lyuda realises no matter the decision she made back then she wouldn’t have been truly happy without the two things she desires most. When Lyuda finally returns to herself after Angela cuts the rope binding them, she sees the real form of happiness in her daughter and realises she can fight the darkness within herself as long as she has her daughter’s light to guide her.
As we cross into the final section of the novel we see Angela try so hard to save her mother with the help of her grandmother and her night spirit but it never seems to be enough, and when Angela is finally ready to admit there may be no hope for her mother, the darkness begins to taint her. In the final hours her grandmother comes to the rescue with one last memory, a memory of hope and love. This is enough to draw Lyuda from the darkness long enough to show her that her life doesn’t have to end here that there can be life beyond the darkness but only if she lets go of it and choose to live for herself rather than live for others.
Overall, I found this novel to be beautifully written with some absolutely stunning imagery along with some very interesting perspectives which enhance some of the points the author is trying to make. Despite the fact not a lot happens until part three of the novel I find myself reading at quite a quick pace. I really enjoyed the relationships in this novel good and bad. I love the relationships between women, between men and women and most important the relationship between a mother and her child. I also really enjoyed the fact that we are lead to believe that this is Angela’s story but it turns out that isn’t the case and I’d recommend this book to fans of good literary fiction.
Title: The Woman Behind The Waterfall
Author: Leonora Meriel
Genre: Literary Fiction/Family
Rating: ****
Review: The opening to The Woman Behind The Waterfall was good I loved the imagery of the Ukrainian landscape. We meet Angela and her mother as they bake a cake. Angela seems very perspective and in tune with nature for a child but then again she is seeing the world through the wondrous and naive eyes of a child. Angela talks about her night spirit will she talks to frequently and on this night her spirit tells her that a darkness is coming. We also see her mother Lyuda’s perspective and how she worries for her daughter and numbs her fear with vodka.
I liked Angela as a happy-go-lucky kind of child and I really enjoyed the personification of the male bird that constant hovers over and follows Angela but not a lot has really happened yet in the novel although I am hoping this will change as the novel progresses. Angela’s night spirit also seeks to protect her light from her mother’s darkness, I interpreted this as the spirit is protecting Angela’s innocence from the hardships her mother faced like depression and heartbreak as well.
As we approach the 1/4 mark in the novel we can see despite her young age that Angela can see the weight on her mothers’ heart and how she is beginning to fall apart despite it begin seven years since the love of her life vanished. While the writing style was beautiful and poetic I was finding it really difficult to connect to the characters and the story felt rather disjointed at times. We see Angela’s grandmother and her night spirit work together to help Lyuda gets free of the memories that bind her to the darkness and Angela has to be the one to do it. We also get snippets of Lyuda’s life as well as Angela’s grandmothers life and how the women in this family are all connected through memories and not all of them are good. We see the mistakes of their pasts and the decisions they regretted making. Lyuda’s biggest regret is ignoring her mothers’ advice although if she has listened Angela would have never been born at all.
As we cross the 1/4 mark in the novel we see Angela trying so hard to help make her mother happy but as she learns how deep her mothers’ pain goes she doesn’t think she can do it but her grandmother and night spirit give her new hope and light each time Angela seems drawn to the darkness. I loved the literal rope that connect the three generations and what this rope represents, it was a great use of imagery. By the end of the first part of the novel we see Angela complete her mission of cutting the rope that binds them together and free them all of the pain they have felt. I also loved seeing the relationship between the women mentioned in this novel as they have so many similarities yet so key differences that makes them unique and likeable characters.
As we approach the half way mark in the novel we change time and perspective, we travel back to when Lyuda was just a girl but it is told from Volodiya’s point of view. The pair meeting and getting to know one another was sweet and perfect up until the moment Lyuda sleeps with Volodiya for the first time and this is literally the beginning of the end for the couple. Seeing Volodiya’s point of view really change how I thought of him, up until this point I had seen as a bad person because he left Lyuda and Angela and never returned to see his daughter in seven years but seeing him in this new light allowed me to see him as a young man that was just unprepared emotionally and financially for a child. We can see Volodiya following in his father’s footsteps well on the way to becoming an abusive partner and father and he decides that he can’t do that to his family even though it means leaving them for good, doing this not only break Lyuda’s heart but a part of him as well.
We also get to see how deep the depression Lyuda falls into is and how she even contemplates suicide but she lives on for her child. After this we return to the current timeline and see what happens to everyone after Angela manages to sever the rope binding them. I love how Meriel uses water as a symbol for memories and how she uses the birds to symbolise freedom. Despite the slow and slightly confusing start I was really starting to get into this novel.
As we cross into the second half of the novel we see what Lyuda’s life would have been like if she hadn’t got pregnant with Angela all those years ago and it honestly wasn’t what I expected, and it wasn’t what Lyuda expected either. While she has a great life at this point, they are missing the one thing that will complete them both and it’s the one thing they can never have. I have to admit this book was giving me a lot of sad feelings but I was loving every minute of it. Lyuda almost talks herself into believing this life is enough but she is always left wanting for the one thing she can’t have.
As we approach the 3/4 mark in the novel we see Lyuda realises no matter the decision she made back then she wouldn’t have been truly happy without the two things she desires most. When Lyuda finally returns to herself after Angela cuts the rope binding them, she sees the real form of happiness in her daughter and realises she can fight the darkness within herself as long as she has her daughter’s light to guide her.
As we cross into the final section of the novel we see Angela try so hard to save her mother with the help of her grandmother and her night spirit but it never seems to be enough, and when Angela is finally ready to admit there may be no hope for her mother, the darkness begins to taint her. In the final hours her grandmother comes to the rescue with one last memory, a memory of hope and love. This is enough to draw Lyuda from the darkness long enough to show her that her life doesn’t have to end here that there can be life beyond the darkness but only if she lets go of it and choose to live for herself rather than live for others.
Overall, I found this novel to be beautifully written with some absolutely stunning imagery along with some very interesting perspectives which enhance some of the points the author is trying to make. Despite the fact not a lot happens until part three of the novel I find myself reading at quite a quick pace. I really enjoyed the relationships in this novel good and bad. I love the relationships between women, between men and women and most important the relationship between a mother and her child. I also really enjoyed the fact that we are lead to believe that this is Angela’s story but it turns out that isn’t the case and I’d recommend this book to fans of good literary fiction.