Adeline
3.75 stars Historical fiction set before and during the Big Freeze of 1962/1963 and the Cuban Missile crisis, it follows Marta a marine archaeologist assigned to collect the remains of a local hero inside a sunken ship near a remote Scottish island. Dealing with a painful past, she starts a relationship with Elsie, a local woman but her expedition is threatened by the disappearance of the ship’s treasure.
The main strength of this book was the atmospheric description of the Scottish island, a desolate, humid and creepy place with unwelcoming inhabitants. The writing was lushly evocative, with a distinct tone enriched by the Scottish vernacular, perfectly rendering the historical and geographical era. The historical events provided another layer of tension and danger to the story. The author did a great job showing the devastating effect of the cold on the islanders, physically and mentally, adding a dose of religious psychosis and supernatural horror elements. Marta wasn’t completely likeable and even irritating many times because of her self flagellation. It impacted on my enjoyment of her relationship with Elsie (it didn’t hit all the right notes as a sapphic enthusiast) and with other characters. I liked how she finally grew out of her self misery but it came a bit too late into the story. While her story was compelling enough for me to continue, I wished we saw more of her backstory, her diving skills and work as a marine archeologist since it was interesting to me. The pacing wasn’t great. It felt too repetitive during the 1st part of the novel, because of the character’s personality and ruminations. Some elements were a bit too quickly developed or resolved, with some superficial interactions and dialogue, not adding to the plot or the characters in an organic way. Fortunately with another character entering the story the 2nd half of the book was more entertaining. I really liked how the author integrated themes on xenophobia, bigotry, privilege, traditions, folklore, religion etc into the main story. Overall a mixed read for me, but I might check out the author’s other books in the future.
3.75 stars Historical fiction set before and during the Big Freeze of 1962/1963 and the Cuban Missile crisis, it follows Marta a marine archaeologist assigned to collect the remains of a local hero inside a sunken ship near a remote Scottish island. Dealing with a painful past, she starts a relationship with Elsie, a local woman but her expedition is threatened by the disappearance of the ship’s treasure.
The main strength of this book was the atmospheric description of the Scottish island, a desolate, humid and creepy place with unwelcoming inhabitants. The writing was lushly evocative, with a distinct tone enriched by the Scottish vernacular, perfectly rendering the historical and geographical era. The historical events provided another layer of tension and danger to the story. The author did a great job showing the devastating effect of the cold on the islanders, physically and mentally, adding a dose of religious psychosis and supernatural horror elements. Marta wasn’t completely likeable and even irritating many times because of her self flagellation. It impacted on my enjoyment of her relationship with Elsie (it didn’t hit all the right notes as a sapphic enthusiast) and with other characters. I liked how she finally grew out of her self misery but it came a bit too late into the story. While her story was compelling enough for me to continue, I wished we saw more of her backstory, her diving skills and work as a marine archeologist since it was interesting to me. The pacing wasn’t great. It felt too repetitive during the 1st part of the novel, because of the character’s personality and ruminations. Some elements were a bit too quickly developed or resolved, with some superficial interactions and dialogue, not adding to the plot or the characters in an organic way. Fortunately with another character entering the story the 2nd half of the book was more entertaining. I really liked how the author integrated themes on xenophobia, bigotry, privilege, traditions, folklore, religion etc into the main story. Overall a mixed read for me, but I might check out the author’s other books in the future.