Take a photo of a barcode or cover
I picked this up as part of the shortlist of the Women's Prize for fiction and it was incredible. I find it difficult to review with such positive words though because the content is shocking, violent, real and heartwrenching. My version came with a list of people with whom the book should be shared with: judgemental feminists, violent men, women in violent relationships or those who have escaped.. But truly it should just have said EVERYONE. It is a thunderbolt of a book, unapologetic about its content but also some of the best writing I have ever read.
Read this, talk about it, share it, celebrate Meena's feminism, and your own.
Read this, talk about it, share it, celebrate Meena's feminism, and your own.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, especially as I sometimes find it hard to read fiction based on a real person.
The story is not really about Thomas's sentence, and eventual death, rather I like the story for the way it dealt with the harshness of 17th century Scottish life, Edinburgh and the religious beliefs that were at risk during the time. Rose's description of Edinburgh is so incredibly realistic, I could almost taste the rancid air and feel the fog on my skin.
Some reviews have drawn attention to her use of Scots throughout, and I think it is important to note it in this review too. Brought up in the north east, I was raised surrounded by the Doric, so Rose's Scots is probably not dissimilar to what I would recognise, however in some places it didn't seem like she was using quite the right word or turn of phrase. I did however like that the characters were written in Scots and the narration in English, because to me Scots (and indeed Doric) is a spoken language. If you can handle the bastardisation of Scots like I did, I think you would enjoy the story it helps weave of Thomas's plight.
Sadly it is my understanding that the publishers went into liquidation so the book is stuck in limbo, which I think is quite sad as I'm sure there would be many folk interested in 17th century Scotland would enjoy reading this! I found it in my local library, but struggled to find it to buy.
The story is not really about Thomas's sentence, and eventual death, rather I like the story for the way it dealt with the harshness of 17th century Scottish life, Edinburgh and the religious beliefs that were at risk during the time. Rose's description of Edinburgh is so incredibly realistic, I could almost taste the rancid air and feel the fog on my skin.
Some reviews have drawn attention to her use of Scots throughout, and I think it is important to note it in this review too. Brought up in the north east, I was raised surrounded by the Doric, so Rose's Scots is probably not dissimilar to what I would recognise, however in some places it didn't seem like she was using quite the right word or turn of phrase. I did however like that the characters were written in Scots and the narration in English, because to me Scots (and indeed Doric) is a spoken language. If you can handle the bastardisation of Scots like I did, I think you would enjoy the story it helps weave of Thomas's plight.
Sadly it is my understanding that the publishers went into liquidation so the book is stuck in limbo, which I think is quite sad as I'm sure there would be many folk interested in 17th century Scotland would enjoy reading this! I found it in my local library, but struggled to find it to buy.
