Another kindle book because we were going skiing and didn’t want to take with me my vintage Penguins (don’t you love those old orange covers?) of Monica Dickens…
I had read ‘Zennor in Darkness’ a few years back and remember I had enjoyed her writing voice very much, so I was pretty sure I’d enjoy this one too. (Choosing a book by the author’s surname only can have its drawbacks… it’s a fairly stupid thing as well actually but… hey, who doesn’t like a gamble here and then?)
So anyway, this one was a very good choice. It’s a family story told from the point of view of Catherine… a story about siblings love, forbidden love, lost innocence… a family broken apart, the spectre of the first world war, changes in society… it’s a gothic novel too, mysterious, dark, intense…
The writing is keeps you hooked. You want to keep reading, slowly to take it all in, to let the atmosphere it creates wrap around you like a cocoon.
“You live in the past,’ Kate said. ‘You live in your grandfather’s time.’ But she was wrong. The past was not something we could live in, because it had nothing to do with life. It was something we lugged about, as heavy as a sack of rotting apples.”
A fabulous 10/10.
while you're ahead... 