Matthew

Set in the early 1900s, this book is a gothic thriller mystery. Although the story starts off slowly, the author masterfully builds the suspense as the reader wanders through a dream-like haze along with the main character. Full of twists and turns, the anxiety is increased as more is revealed but not understood. The setting adds to the tension, as the characters are trapped together on a secluded island with no escape. An exciting feminist book which explores themes such as guilt, trauma, and gender.

This book tells the stories of two lives, one of an ostensibly successful writer who slowly succumbs to anxiety and agoraphobia, and a Ukrainian political activist from the past, whose life story she finds solace in as she scrambles to prevent her nation's history from being forgotten forever. The major theme is a fear of being lost to time, which is described as a big blue whale that swallows everything mercilessly and moves on uncaring. This imagery evokes a sense of hopelessness as the author fights against the erasure of Ukrainian history, and the reader fully feels the sense of desperation that the main character has in preserving what she can of their history. Although the plot moves slowly, the prose is beautifully written as the author invites you to take bathe in a sea of melancholy, reflecting upon our own losses to the big blue whale.