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Loved this book so much I had to buy a hard copy for when I eventually reread it.
“There’s a lure to this work that goes deep in us. It’s the working of saving something from the land. And this, bagging the turf to take home, was most satisfying. A small triumph for man. Even as I watched my hands become scratched and torn I cared little, about as little as the mountain did.”
This book has a real sense of place being steeped in the Legion of the Cailleach (a Witchlike Landscape Deity) and drawing on the powers of the Bean Feasa (Wise Women/Witches). If you ever wanted to learn more about the myths and legions of the West of Ireland via fiction this book is definitely for you.
The story has obvious comparisons to Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic in that we have female witches who are principally Sisters and Aunts who are doomed in love and life until they can lift the Geis/curse set upon their family by their ancestors. The story is definitely five stars and is cleverly plotted and interwoven with hints of the truth given until it comes to its conclusion.
However, the style of writing did not suit me. There were too many changing POVs, too much time spent in overly self-aware characters heads, too much explanation of what a character was thinking and feeling and several other faults that had me seriously considering DNFing this book twice. However, I kept going and the payoff of the story arch was worth it.
I would love to see this author get a literary agent, a publishing deal and a commercial editor for this book. Somewhere underneath its roughness is a real diamond.
Recommended to fans I Irish folklore, the book and movie Practical Magic and the tv program Charmed.
This book has a real sense of place being steeped in the Legion of the Cailleach (a Witchlike Landscape Deity) and drawing on the powers of the Bean Feasa (Wise Women/Witches). If you ever wanted to learn more about the myths and legions of the West of Ireland via fiction this book is definitely for you.
The story has obvious comparisons to Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic in that we have female witches who are principally Sisters and Aunts who are doomed in love and life until they can lift the Geis/curse set upon their family by their ancestors. The story is definitely five stars and is cleverly plotted and interwoven with hints of the truth given until it comes to its conclusion.
However, the style of writing did not suit me. There were too many changing POVs, too much time spent in overly self-aware characters heads, too much explanation of what a character was thinking and feeling and several other faults that had me seriously considering DNFing this book twice. However, I kept going and the payoff of the story arch was worth it.
I would love to see this author get a literary agent, a publishing deal and a commercial editor for this book. Somewhere underneath its roughness is a real diamond.
Recommended to fans I Irish folklore, the book and movie Practical Magic and the tv program Charmed.
A classic haunted house story.
Written in the late 30's early 40's this novel is about an Anglo Irish brother and sister "the Fitzgerald's" who move to a rural house situated on a cliff edge in Devonshire. They can barely afford it but still, it is the house of their dreams until of course, they discover it is haunted. As in most of these tales, the couple and their friends must solve the mystery of who and why is haunting their house in order to eliminate the ghosts. Not to do so would mean giving up their beloved home.
This is more literary than narrative-based fiction and is a slow burner very reminiscent of some of the Victorian ghost tales I have read, Charlotte Riddell comes to mind. There are themes here on the true importance of Motherhood and the danger of considering all Mothers to be saints. There is a wonderful character portrayal in the personage of their Irish housekeeper Lizzie. I also enjoyed MacArdle's discussions on playwriting and the 1930's literary scene (she was herself at this time chiefly a playwright). I chuckled at the very Enid Blyton like descriptions of the food they were eating - I could have murdered that cheese omelet :)
The essential mystery of the reason for the haunting is easily solved but the ending still does not disappoint.
I have just finished watching the 1944 movie that was made based on the book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the book.
Written in the late 30's early 40's this novel is about an Anglo Irish brother and sister "the Fitzgerald's" who move to a rural house situated on a cliff edge in Devonshire. They can barely afford it but still, it is the house of their dreams until of course, they discover it is haunted. As in most of these tales, the couple and their friends must solve the mystery of who and why is haunting their house in order to eliminate the ghosts. Not to do so would mean giving up their beloved home.
This is more literary than narrative-based fiction and is a slow burner very reminiscent of some of the Victorian ghost tales I have read, Charlotte Riddell comes to mind. There are themes here on the true importance of Motherhood and the danger of considering all Mothers to be saints. There is a wonderful character portrayal in the personage of their Irish housekeeper Lizzie. I also enjoyed MacArdle's discussions on playwriting and the 1930's literary scene (she was herself at this time chiefly a playwright). I chuckled at the very Enid Blyton like descriptions of the food they were eating - I could have murdered that cheese omelet :)
The essential mystery of the reason for the haunting is easily solved but the ending still does not disappoint.
I have just finished watching the 1944 movie that was made based on the book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the book.
Once more I am enthralled by Dickens's ability to write a rip-roaring tale, populated by larger than life characters and overly melodramatic scenes for pages and pages. Yet he entertains, beguiles and thrills me. This one is going to make a great reread!
In the author's own words this is a “dramatic fictionalisation based on a true story”.
In 1843 a single but pregnant Harriet Monkton was found poisoned in a privy out the back of her local chapel. Based on her research of the inquests into Harriet’s death, Elizabeth Haynes tells us a story of what might have happened to Harriet that evening and who may just have been guilty.
Haynes has done an exceptional job of bringing some of these genuine historical characters to life; blending what she has observed of their true characters from the historical records with her imagined inner lives for them.
A courtroom drama with a difference, who did it was blindingly obvious but this story is was well worth the ride. Recommended to lovers of historical fiction, true crime and courtroom dramas.
In 1843 a single but pregnant Harriet Monkton was found poisoned in a privy out the back of her local chapel. Based on her research of the inquests into Harriet’s death, Elizabeth Haynes tells us a story of what might have happened to Harriet that evening and who may just have been guilty.
Haynes has done an exceptional job of bringing some of these genuine historical characters to life; blending what she has observed of their true characters from the historical records with her imagined inner lives for them.
A courtroom drama with a difference, who did it was blindingly obvious but this story is was well worth the ride. Recommended to lovers of historical fiction, true crime and courtroom dramas.
My least favourite Sarah Waters to date. Slightly overwrought I think? Even a bit dull towards the middle. But the ending, ah her endings!