This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Kay Brooks
Sylvia Larkin
has spent the last eleven years of her life being a mother, a role that she
feels less than adequate at, especially when compared to her openly loving
husband, JP. During the time since her daughter, Kate, was born, she seems to
have lost something of herself and doesn’t know how to go about getting it
back. When her former lover appears in her life, having become a seemingly
charismatic, successful artist, Sylvia realises what she has given up and
spirals into despair, coming close to destroying her own family.
While the cover of the novel is aesthetically pleasing, I found that after reading the blurb, I wasn’t looking forward to reading about Sylvia Larkin. For me, the blurb reveals too much about what is going to happen. It tells the prospective reader that Sylvia is going to try and repair the damage caused to her family by her breakdown. It would have been interesting as an active reader to contemplate the different routes that she might take. There was no reason to question what attributes her former lover had or memories they had made together that might make her returning to him a viable option because the blurb told me she wasn’t going to. To add to this negative first impression, the blurb suggested that the novel was going to be depressing.
To my surprise, I really enjoyed the novel and soon found myself unable to put it down without finding out what was going to be revealed next. Despite the overly- informative blurb, there were plenty of twists, turns and discoveries to be experienced. The imagery is evocative throughout and incredibly symbolic of Sylvia’s thoughts and feelings. At times the imagery could be confusing and required consideration but it was worth the effort.
The setting of Ireland was beautifully depicted, with bleak but glorious landscapes. The melodic Irish twang was clear in the dialogue. The characters were real, earthy and believable. Sylvia’s mother was the typical Irish matriarch, concealing her own heartache whilst trying to shield her children from their own.
The relationship between Sylvia and her daughter, Kate, is intriguing. At only eleven, Kate seems so insightful but is really just seeing the obvious where her mother chooses to ignore it. Her innocent way of contemplating adult events with the naive mind of a child is endearing.
The story is told from the perspective of Sylvia who is compelling and far from what I expected. Many of the events and issues explored are upsetting but they are explored in a manner that makes them thought-provoking and relatable. For women who have suffered from post-natal depression this could make for life-changing reading. Sylvia shows how even the most broken of women can deal with the guilt for not having the ‘normal’ feelings of elation in response to motherhood and can find a path to recovery.
The ending, which I won’t give away, was uplifting and seemed to come all too soon!
8/10