Reading by lightning
Ratings1
Average rating4
15
Ratings1
Average rating4
Lily Piper and her family live in an ephemeral world, due to collapse any moment when the Lord comes to pluck his faithful from the drought-ravaged Prairies. Lily tries to be ready, but she is restless, not the daughter she feels her mother wants.
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I was frequently blown away by Thomas' use of language and the books general smartness. Told almost entirely from Lily's point of view (there are a couple of sections that tell the story of her father's arrival in Canada that provide a break from Lily) I felt that the novel's energy was hampered by Lily's inability(?) to emotionally (and to a certain extent intellectually) engage with the people that surround her. Even the England section were Lily is seemingly happy is restrained. I wonder if maybe the control over the language and the ideas did in the overall development of the novel? Nonetheless, I thought it a stellar read, if for the language alone, and will recommend it to others.
