I’m a Sarah Winman devotee, so I had to have this one. As usual, the writing is beautiful, full of gorgeous imagery, and her characters are deeply drawn as ever, with all their angst and joys. But usually that goes with a damn good story, which in this case was missing, for me anyway. It was as if the author was off in a dream, spinning random threads which were meant to form a whole web (with the reader caught in the middle) by the end.
Francis Drake (really) is late back from the war, unable to settle, escaping a particular horror of all the horrors. When he does make it home in 1947, he initially believes all will be more than well – until it very quickly isn’t. Somehow (he doesn’t know and we’re never really told), he makes his way to Marvellous, an 89-year-old woman who has lived her entire life on a tidal creek in Cornwall. Marvellous has her own history, and through their gradual sharing, the two heal each other.
Whimsical is the word which comes to mind to describe the tale. It didn’t help that I kept losing track of the many characters and how they fit with whom (and I never did understand the point of Peace (yes really) appearing towards the end). So not a relaxing read. And the ending was one of those which attacks the totally unsuspecting reader – there were likely clues but I missed them.
I’ll still read whatever comes next of Sarah Winman’s, however, with fingers crossed! And the cover is beautiful and looks great on the bookcase.
Find A Year of Marvellous Ways here
More reviews here and my monthly round up of what I’ve read here.