I thought it was probably about the money, which, sadly, is the issue with lots of indie press books. Some of us are a bit more generous, some of us are very generous. That is not a slight, Paul, I just see that you ask a lot from a novel, which considering the number of books published every year, being discerning is a good thing. Paul is not as generous a reader so that doesn’t surprise me. I just read and enjoyed The Spoon Stealer which I only gave 2 stars! Not every good book is award worthy and I don’t need every book I read to be exceptional, award winning books.
I didn’t see that in UG, I enjoyed it, I read it in one sitting, but I can’t see why it was nominated for an award. As I just said, in my 9 month later review, one of the women in Sound Mirror has stayed with me all these months. The writing was as good as any award nominated book, the pace was right for the story lines and what set it apart for me is that, like all of my favorite novels, the author has insight into what makes us tick, what brings us joy, what haunts us, motivates us, cripples us. The characters in The Sound Mirror were fully developed and consistent throughout, none were all good or all bad. I was drawn into it from the first page, and the characters live with me still.Peg and Neil surprise me then, although Sound Mirror is not a Goldsmith style book it’s not experimental. It’s a grim tale, but ultimately not a depressing one, with moments of grace and hope. Dot dies in the first chapter and suddenly the certainties that have shaped the twins’ lives starts to unravel. Their mother tells them that she came to an arrangement with Rawson to carry on living in the cottage rent-free as recompense and in exchange for not bringing legal action. Their father was killed in a tractor accident when they were 12 and they have been led to believe that the farmer, Spencer Rawson, the owner of the ramshackle cottage they live in, was to blame.
Their rented cottage is simultaneously their armour against the world. Julius and Jeanie are now in their 50s but still live at home with their mother, who dominates their lives and has kept them close to her with a string of lies and secrets. At 51 years old, they still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation and poverty.
Just as the ground beneath the protagonists’ feet is constantly shifting, so is the ground between the reader’s feet. Well-written, expertly paced, astute and insightful, sensitive and sympathetic, it’s a tale of deception, marginalisation and isolation, a tale which I found so moving and unsettling.
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