I’m very conflicted about this book. It took me at least until halfway through to settle into it, and I found the mixture of verse and prose initially quite jarring. That said, once I got into it and figured out what was going on, I really enjoyed the latter half and felt if I re read the first half would be a completely different experience.
The writing is beautiful, it’s lyrical and pulls you up, forcing you to read a paragraph again to take in the beauty. But this sometimes feels a priority over the characterisation. Despite the emotional subjects covered; war, motherhood gained and lost - I never felt close to the characters, I felt constantly kept at a distance.
It’s without doubt an interesting read, and there is lots to unpick and discuss in terms of literary choices and devices - and as this is a book club read I’m really looking forward to hearing what others in the group felt about it.