Adeline
Historical fiction taking place on a remote Scottish island in the 1840s where a young church minister John is sent to evict its only inhabitant a man called Ivar, and despite their lack of common language form a bond while John’s wife Mary waits for him to come back to the mainland.
This was a lovely little story, a novella really that is readable in one setting.
The writing was good, straightforward and evocative the author did a great job describing the atmosphere of the Scottish island and its landscape, the harsh life of Ivar on this desolated land.
Pacing wise, the story felt a bit short for me and I wished we had spent more time in establishing the relation between John and Ivar. While the relationship felt wholesome , especially the queerness of it, it was but a bit too rushed for my taste and I didn’t feel completely emotionally connected to it.
There were several flashbacks and scenes some involving John’s wife on the mainland that while interesting in fleshing out the characters and the story, I think I would have preferred them in a longer novel. Here there seem to distract me from the main story. The ending felt a bit rushed too.
I really liked all the characters and how they ended up at the end of the story, especially their easy acceptance of each other. The fascination for language and translation was also a lovely theme added to this story’s other themes of love and acceptance.
Overall, though not perfect, this was a great tender little story with great prose and lovely characters.
Historical fiction taking place on a remote Scottish island in the 1840s where a young church minister John is sent to evict its only inhabitant a man called Ivar, and despite their lack of common language form a bond while John’s wife Mary waits for him to come back to the mainland.
This was a lovely little story, a novella really that is readable in one setting.
The writing was good, straightforward and evocative the author did a great job describing the atmosphere of the Scottish island and its landscape, the harsh life of Ivar on this desolated land.
Pacing wise, the story felt a bit short for me and I wished we had spent more time in establishing the relation between John and Ivar. While the relationship felt wholesome , especially the queerness of it, it was but a bit too rushed for my taste and I didn’t feel completely emotionally connected to it.
There were several flashbacks and scenes some involving John’s wife on the mainland that while interesting in fleshing out the characters and the story, I think I would have preferred them in a longer novel. Here there seem to distract me from the main story. The ending felt a bit rushed too.
I really liked all the characters and how they ended up at the end of the story, especially their easy acceptance of each other. The fascination for language and translation was also a lovely theme added to this story’s other themes of love and acceptance.
Overall, though not perfect, this was a great tender little story with great prose and lovely characters.