 |
This the best book I've read in quite some time. It's a gripping thriller, it's a book that's deeply concerned about climate and environment, it's about relationships between parents and children, it's a love story - and as well as all this, it's very beautifully written.
It's set on a fictional island called Shearwater - which does, however, have a lot in common with Macquarie Island, which is in the South Pacific between Australia and Antarctica. The fictional island has an international seedbank, which is threatened - as is the whole island - by rising sea levels. The island's caretakers are a close-knit family comprising widower Dom Salt and his children Raff, Fen and nine year-old Orly.
Then one day, Fen rescues a woman who has been washed ashore after the boat which was bringing her to the island is wrecked. She - Rowan - is at first secretive about where she's from and how she comes to be in this remote spot - and she soon realises that the family has its own secrets too. But despite herself, she grows closer to all of them, and love grows.
If I told you any more than that about the plot, it would completely spoil it for you. And I wouldn't want to do that, because the author has constructed the plot with fiendish skill - just when you think you know what's going on, there's an unexpected twist, and another level is revealed.
The characters, and the relationships between them, are richly realised. Though there is one anomaly: Orly, the nine year-old, is incredibly knowledgeable about seeds and plants - about botany. This is fine - but the voice in the chapters which he narrates is absolutely not that of a nine year-old - it's the voice of an expert adult. Whereas when Orly is described by any of the other characters, he's clearly a child, and a very lovable one.
The writing is beautiful. The descriptions of the island, the sea, the wildlife - all stunning.
This is a very, very good book indeed.
