The extract was a great introduction to the story, with aspects of modern life melded with the mysterious fantasy aspects. Even in this brief opening extract, the novel contains a host of themes and ideas: our relationship with other people, how the past shapes us, attitudes to disability and the need to adapt to a different lifestyle, adolescence, fear and trepidation.
The setting on a Swedish island and the inclusion of Swedish-speaking characters gives an additional insight into a different culture- one of the joys of reading is travelling to a different place and time, and with this novel we get both another place as well as another paradigm of what is possible in the world.
I will be looking for this one when it is published to find out what happens to Martha and how she learns to cope with her gift and her disability.
The setting on a Swedish island and the inclusion of Swedish-speaking characters gives an additional insight into a different culture- one of the joys of reading is travelling to a different place and time, and with this novel we get both another place as well as another paradigm of what is possible in the world.
I will be looking for this one when it is published to find out what happens to Martha and how she learns to cope with her gift and her disability.