Wrecker
Ratings4
Average rating3
15
Ratings4
Average rating3
'Compelling' Sunday TimesA powerful debut exploring the dark side of Cornwall - the wrecking and the drowned sailors - where poverty drove villagers to dark deeds... Shipwrecks are part of life in the remote village of Porthmorvoren, Cornwall. And as the sea washes the bodies of the drowned onto the beach, it also brings treasures: barrels of liquor, exotic fruit, the chance to lift a fine pair of boots from a corpse, maybe even a jewel or two. When, after a fierce storm, Mary Blight rescues a man half-dead from the sea, she ignores the whispers of her neighbours and carries him home to nurse better. Gideon Stone is a Methodist minister from Newlyn, a married man. Touched by Mary's sacrifice and horrified by the superstitions and pagan beliefs the villagers cling to, Gideon sets out to bring light and salvation to Porthmorvoren by building a chapel on the hill. But the village has many secrets and not everyone wants to be saved. As Mary and Gideon find themselves increasingly drawn together, jealousy, rumour and suspicion is rife. Gideon has demons of his own to face, and soon Mary's enemies are plotting against her... Gripping, beautifully written and utterly beguiling, Noel O'Reilly's debut WRECKER is a story of love, injustice, superstition and salvation, set against Cornwall's dark past.
Reviews with the most likes.
I felt this was a book that didn't quite know what it wanted to be. Hailed on the cover as having ‘an edge of Gothic' it wasn't Gothic enough for me. It's called Wrecker but seemed to be more about a religious revival in Cornwall than about Wreckers, but I'm not sure it could fall into Christian fic either. It had elements of historical romance to it but it wasn't romantic. I thought the caption on the front about her life being in danger was rather misleading, it never feels as if she is in any actual peril. I also found the constant use of the word ‘ass' (to mean rear end) a bit odd, as well as a sentence blanking out a swear word - either use it or cut it, we all know what you mean!
Mary had promise as a main character, yes she's gutsy and flawed, but as a reader I got mad at her for not being a good narrator; even when major things are happening to her you don't get much of a sense of how she actually feels.
I liked the depiction of Cornwall and the residents of the village, there are some good descriptive passages and some quite funny bits, but I found the main characters frustrating, particularly the illusive Gideon, who isn't really described and has no clear motives throughout the story, he doesn't even have a good reason to build the Chapel, he just sort of falls into it ‘because'. Mary falls for him, but there doesn't seem to be any reason why, she just seems to decide he's someone new to fixate on. Most of the women just felt like snobby stereotypes to me, particularly Gideon's wife. Not a big fan of the ending either. I think maybe I just got a bit cross as I was expecting a different book!
