I was completely hooked by the opening line. The narrator says: “Inevitably, I blame my mother.” I wondered, what she blamed her mother for and what was going to happen to cause issues between the usually close and unbreakable bond of mother and child.
I really identified with the character’s relationship with her stepfather. Her real father is an absent figure, but her stepfather steps in and steps up. He is completely accepting of the situation of Ada’s mother as a single mother. She tells us: “Daddy wasn’t sure which one of us he fell in love with first.” He tells her: “I might not have made you Ada, but I chose you.” My eldest daughter’s real dad is also not involved in her life, and this brought a tear to my eye as I drew comparisons with the close relationship between my eldest daughter and my partner.
I loved the settings described in the book. Firstly, we have rural, rugged and rich Garreg Las in my beautiful home country of Wales, and then we are quickly whisked into a wonderfully escapist Italian setting, where we are able to explore issues of class, culture and keeping up appearances.
There is a intriguingly deep psychological element to this book, about memories and self projection. The author explores issues around how we form memories, and remember things, the way our mind works to piece memories together, to forge new memories or only focus on certain ones etc. She also considers how our projected selves can be quite different to our ‘real selves’, and all of this is wrapped up in the theme of belonging in the book.
I found it interesting that, as a writer making the bridge between YA and adult novels, Laura chose to focus much of the narrative on adolescents as they deal with and are faced with ‘adult’ issues, including love, death and rejection. The action is quite minor at first, with the narrative mostly contemplative and thought-driven, with the odd comment or argument to spark a bit of tension, until it becomes much darker and we are faced with a rather unsettling and upsetting reality. The meaning of “the favour” is revealed, and from this point onwards I was completely hooked.
This is a slower paced read than my usual, but it is definitely an absorbing and wonderful read, that explores some interesting issues and themes. There are some unexpected and eye-opening twists towards the end, which add another layer of drama and provide a different perspective from which to see the story from. A highly sophisticated and carefully constructured novel.
I really identified with the character’s relationship with her stepfather. Her real father is an absent figure, but her stepfather steps in and steps up. He is completely accepting of the situation of Ada’s mother as a single mother. She tells us: “Daddy wasn’t sure which one of us he fell in love with first.” He tells her: “I might not have made you Ada, but I chose you.” My eldest daughter’s real dad is also not involved in her life, and this brought a tear to my eye as I drew comparisons with the close relationship between my eldest daughter and my partner.
I loved the settings described in the book. Firstly, we have rural, rugged and rich Garreg Las in my beautiful home country of Wales, and then we are quickly whisked into a wonderfully escapist Italian setting, where we are able to explore issues of class, culture and keeping up appearances.
There is a intriguingly deep psychological element to this book, about memories and self projection. The author explores issues around how we form memories, and remember things, the way our mind works to piece memories together, to forge new memories or only focus on certain ones etc. She also considers how our projected selves can be quite different to our ‘real selves’, and all of this is wrapped up in the theme of belonging in the book.
I found it interesting that, as a writer making the bridge between YA and adult novels, Laura chose to focus much of the narrative on adolescents as they deal with and are faced with ‘adult’ issues, including love, death and rejection. The action is quite minor at first, with the narrative mostly contemplative and thought-driven, with the odd comment or argument to spark a bit of tension, until it becomes much darker and we are faced with a rather unsettling and upsetting reality. The meaning of “the favour” is revealed, and from this point onwards I was completely hooked.
This is a slower paced read than my usual, but it is definitely an absorbing and wonderful read, that explores some interesting issues and themes. There are some unexpected and eye-opening twists towards the end, which add another layer of drama and provide a different perspective from which to see the story from. A highly sophisticated and carefully constructured novel.