Genre: Literary fiction
Description:
Part of the Amazon blurb for this book (the
most interesting part) tells us: “Beautiful Things is a very
practical fairytale, weaving folk myths with the hard cold modern reality of
poverty, abuse, and the desperation of being trapped in ‘the system’. It is
about trying to halt time, trap shadows and escape chains. It is also a more
primal story of blood, fire, and sacrifice. Spend some time with broken people
in the lonely Scottish landscape, and question what it is to be free.”
Kate is travelling around Scotland on her own, when she nearly runs over
a young girl calling herself Grace. They begin to travel together on a
‘manyana’ sort of basis. Their tour is disturbed, on a number of levels, when
they meet Alex, a local landscape photographer.
The blurb also tells us: “Grace soon
finds herself drawn into Kate’s endearing but isolated existence, creating
short-lived sculptures in lonely parts of the landscape. However, their
relationship is extremely precarious. Whilst Grace becomes increasingly fond
and trustful of her rescuer, she also reveals herself to be disturbingly
delinquent and manipulative. Meanwhile Kate seems to be struggling physically
and mentally somehow, and not just with the burden of looking after Grace.”
Author:
I could find nothing out about the author at
all.
Appraisal:
I was blown away by this. I don’t expect to
read a better story this year. It reminded me strongly of Ali Smith’s Autumn.
I was entranced by the ephemeral art works Kate leaves scattered around the
Scottish landscape, and in awe of her artistic and DIY skills. I was fascinated
by the nuggets of apparently random information dropped into the book by the
author through Kate (which are not random at all, one soon begins to realise). I
was intrigued by the back stories (very gradually teased out) of Kate and
Grace, which lead to their meeting. My heart ached for the life experiences of
each of them. I feared for each of them in turn. It transpired that I feared
for the wrong one. I am seldom misled in this way, so I even sort-of enjoyed
that novel experience. The story is well-structured, well-plotted and the
characters are first rate.
I’ve spent time in some of the parts of
Scotland in which the book is set, researching a book of my own. So, of course,
that enriched the story for me. I know something of Dunbeath (it has a castle,
which is why I was there, and the statue of ‘Kenn and the Fish’ to which Kelly
refers, famously commemorates local author Neil Gunn). And I know a little of
Ullapool (at midsummer when for a couple of weeks it is never truly dark – they
call it the ‘simmer dim’). It is wonderful up there. I recommend retracing this
journey (possibly in less ramshackle transport) to anyone.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
There are numerous typos and infelicities missed at
editing. Normally I would deduct a star for this, but the story is SO GOOD it
still gets 5*s from me. As the book is only available on Kindle it would be A
Good Thing if author or publisher would please sort out the infelicities so
that everyone can enjoy this good work even more …
Format/Typo
Issues:
Rating: *****
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
1 comment:
I was intrigued by your review, Judi Moore. How wonderful to find a well-written and well-plotted novel. Too bad about the typos and other problems. Such "infelicities," as you call them, reflect on the rest of us indie writers/publishers. Thanks for your thoughtful review and for adding your personal travel insights about the Scottish location where the book is set.
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