Night Waking | A Review

Night Waking by Sarah Moss 

(Paperback, 378 pages, published by Granta)

In my March Wrap Up post I briefly mentioned that I had started reading this book and since I finished it earlier today I thought I'd do a quick review post for it.

It follows Anna and her family's life on the small rural island of Colsay. She's the mother of two young children (Moth and Raph), a historian and an researcher from Oxford University. The novel discusses her struggle to balance her academic work with her domestic role and more broadly, childhood in general. When the family discover a baby's skeleton which has been buried in the garden the narrative spans both the past and the present. 

I definitely enjoyed this book, it was easy to read which was perfect for my commute on the train to and from London. One of the novel's biggest strengths is the characterisation. By the end of the book you feel like you know Anna and her children, you care about them and their lives. Giles, Anna's husband, on the other hand was more of a 'take it or leave it' kind of character for me. He was irritating at times (maybe this was deliberate?) and I feel like he could have played a bigger part in the plot even though it was mostly told from Anna's perspective. Despite this minor snag however, I think Moss' depiction of motherhood was brilliant. She didn't shy away from being realistic and blunt about it - there were definitely parts which made me laugh even though I can't personally relate to Anna's role as mother. 

I thought the narrative structure was also interesting: every chapter starts with a quote which frames each section and at the end of the chapters are a selection of historical letters. I have to say, although I understand entirely what Moss was doing by including these letters, they weren't a favourite aspect of mine. I found myself skim reading them nearer the end as I was more interested in the 'present day' thread of the novel. Obviously at the end the necessity of them becomes more apparent but I think there could have been less of them dispersed throughout the novel without impacting negatively on the plot. 

Overall I'd give Night Waking 3.5 stars out of 5. If you want a quick, humourous read and some lovable characters definitely pick this one up. It didn't quite convert me to the intermittent epistolary format, hence the star rating, but it was well written. I'm looking forward to reading The Tidal Zone soon, one of Moss' most recent novels. It will be interesting to see how she has developed as an author!

[3.5/5 stars]

Laura.

Book Haul | April

I've been buying some books, so I thought I'd share them with you.

Let's start with the three beautifully designed and brightly coloured hardbacks...

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

(Hardback, 300 pages)

Having only been published by Viking (an imprint of Penguin Random House) at the end of 2016, this book has already received a lot of hype. Homegoing is about two sisters who end up living very different lives: one is a slave owner's wife, the other is sold into slavery. The novel apparently spans seven generations across three different continents - that's a lot to fit into 300 pages! But I'm looking forward to reading this one, so hopefully I'll get a chance to pick it up soon.

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich 
(Hardback, 305 pages)

Idaho is Emily Ruskovich's debut novel, published by an imprint of PRH called Chatto & Windus and it came out earlier this year. I haven't heard all that much about this one apart from the fact that it centres around a terrible event that happens to a family and is told from multiple perspectives. Sometimes I like going into a book quite blind and I think this is definitely one that suits that method. Apparently Ruskovich grew up in Idaho too, so I'm hoping that the novel will portray an authentic sense of place.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier 
(Hardback, 441 pages)

I've heard great things about Daphne Du Maurier's writing, especially Rebecca so have wanted to get my hands on a copy of it for quite some time now. I studied a small section of this novel during my English Literature A-Level but never got round to reading it in full. Better late than never. No surprises here, but I particularly wanted this 2003 Virago Modern Classic edition because I'm a sucker for pretty covers and well published books. I managed to get it at a decent price from the online bookseller Wordery - definitely worth checking out when you're buying books or just want to steer clear of Amazon with their sneaky postage and packaging charges as Wordery offer free delivery. I probably won't get round to reading this one super soon but I'm pleased to now own a copy.

Last but not least, I got two small paperbacks; one short story collection and some poetry.

Treats by Lara Williams 
(Paperback, 125 pages)

This short story collection was published by Freight Books in 2016. After reading By Light We Knew Our Names I was keen to pick up some more short stories and this sounded like my cuppa tea. I heard about it on Leena Normington's Youtube Channel (JustKissMyFrog) definitely go and check her out - she has some super intelligent and well formed ideas about many things, including books. I'm just going to put a snippet of the blurb here as I feel like collections of stories are always difficult to sum up when you haven't read them yet: 'Treats is a sharply authentic collection of short stories which pinpoint life in the twenty-first century'. Review to follow shortly as I'm sure I'll speed through these.

Let Them Eat Chaos 
(Paperback, 72 pages)

You may have heard of Kate Tempest because her poetry collection called Hold Your Own received a lot of attention and praise. I haven't read that collection yet but I was intrigued by Let Them Eat Chaos, a long poem which was originally written for live performance which examines the lives of seven neighbours in London. I must say, I always avoided studying poetry in an academic sense at university. I often struggle to dissect poems but I do like poetry that engages with relatable issues and topics so we'll see how I get on with this one.

So, that's all of the books! I'm slowly but surely getting through the novels from my March Wrap Up post so expect reviews of those soon. Do let me know if you have any book recommendations, I'm always looking for new suggestions (contact info in the 'contact tab' at the top of the page).

Laura.