Two sisters, their grandmother's old house and Angharad... the girl who cannot leave
Meredith discovers a dusty sewing box in a disused attic. Once open the box releases the ghost of Angharad, a Victorian child-woman with a horrific secret she must share. Angharad slowly reveals her story to Meredith who fails to convince her sister of the visitations until Verity sees Angharad for herself on the eve of an April snowstorm.
Forced by her flighty mother to abandon Gull House for London, Meredith struggles to settle, still haunted by Angharad and her little red flannel hearts. This time, Verity is not sure she will be able to save her...
Welcome to the Blog Tour for Snow Sisters by Carol Lovekin. Snow Sisters was published in paperback and ebook by Honno on 21 September 2017. Thanks to Honno for my review copy.
I have been thoroughly consumed by Snow Sisters for the past week or so. It's one of those books that pulls the reader in and never really lets go, even when you've put the book aside to do other things. The characters swirled around my brain, rather like the April snow storm that the author so cleverly creates as a backdrop for her incredibly beautiful story.
If like me, you are a fan of Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale, or more recently, A Thousand Paper Birds by Tor Udall, then Snow Sisters will be your thing. There are ghosts, broken families, old secretive houses and characters who are so wonderfully imagined that you really believe in them.Snow Sisters is an intimate and intricate portrait of one family of women. At the heart and head of the family is Grandmother Mared, and living in Gull House is Mared's daughter Allegra and her two daughters; our Snow Sisters; Verity and Meredith. Carol Lovekin's eye for detail with her characterisation is outstanding, these woman are real and the reader will love them, hate them, sympathise with them - whatever emotion they evoke is a testament to her skill.
So, not one, or two, but three threads of a story so deftly woven together. The present day as Verity returns to Gull House, and her memories and her sadnesses and her questions, and then the story of her and Meredith as children, battling their self-indulgent mother, and of course, Angharad; that poor young girl whose own personal story forms the backbone to this wonderfully imagined and gracefully executed tale.
Snow Sisters is complex and nuanced. There is tragedy yet there is so much love. This is a book to wallow in and linger over. Highly highly recommended.
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| Author photograph ~ JaneyStevens |
She was born in Warwickshire and has lived in Wales since 1979, settling in Lampeter eleven years ago.
A feminist, she finds fiction the perfect vehicle for telling women's collective stories.
Her books also reflect her love of the landscape and mythology of her adopted home.
Snow Sisters is her second novel. Her first, Ghostbird, is also published by Honno.
Find out more at www.carollovekinauthor.com
Follow her on Twitter @carollovekin
Honno Welsh Women's Press was set up in 1986 by a group of women who felt strongly that women in Wales needed wider opportunities to see their writing in print and to become involved in the publishing process.Their aim is to develop the writing talents of women in Wales, give them new and exciting opportunities to see their work published and often to give them their first 'break' as a writer.
Honno is registered as a community co-operative. Any profit that Honno makes is invested in the publishing programme.
Women from Wales and around the world have expressed their support for Honno. Each supporter has a vote at the Annual General Meeting.
For more information to buy Honno publications, visit the website www.honno.co.uk
Follow them on Twitter @honno
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