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#10 The Earth Hums in B Flat by Mari Strachan Review
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| Young Gwenni Morgan has a gift. She can fly in her sleep. She’s also fond of strawberry whip, detective stories and asking difficult questions. When a neighbour mysteriously vanishes, she resolves to uncover the secret of his disappearance and return him to his children.
She truthfully records what she sees and hears: but are her deductions correct? What is the real truth? And what will be the consequences – for Gwenni, her family and her community – of finding it out? |
I picked up this book when I was visiting my daughters family in Cornwall. It was 50p on one of those charity book tables and I was drawn to the poetic title, I hadn’t ever heard of it before but at 50p, I had to have it. As it wasn’t one of the books on my to read list it took me a little while to get round to picking it up but I am so glad I finally got around to reading because it is actually one of the best books I’ve read this year.
I loved Mari Strachan’s writing style. It is written in the voice of Gwenni Morgan, a twelve year old girl living in a small Welsh village in the 1950’s. She is eccentric, curious and sees the world differently from everyone else around her. I loved her naivety, in fact I loved Gwenni and her over active imagination, probably because I was very much the same as her as a child. Her story unfolds slowly, most of the main characters are introduced in the first few chapters which gives you plenty of time to learn about them which is vital for the story.
The descriptions in the book, I haven’t read such or been captivated by them as much since the first time I read Harry Potter. You can picture the characters and the world Gwenni lives in so clearly which is something I find essential to a good book.
Of course, the book isn’t entirely made up of Gwenni’s descriptions of her life, the story itself revolves around a murder and the truth behind it, the twist in the end is more logical and understandable than surprising but I feel it takes nothing away from the book.
My only criticism is that I wanted to know more by the end but sadly I don’t feel this is the sort of book that will have a follow up. I just felt I wasn’t done with the world of Gwenni Morgan.
I don’t have a favourite quote from the book. Nothing seemed right taken out of it’s context the whole book was just wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone.
Now reading… The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
One Comment
Jem
I couldn’t agree more – I found this book so incredibly narrated, it was original and the breadcrumbs were left so subtly throughout in a way that clues the reader in but doesn’t feel like someone is flashing a sign saying ‘here’s a clue to how this will go down!!’.
Jem xXx