patchworkbunny reviewed A year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman
Review of 'A year of Marvellous Ways' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
A Year of Marvellous Ways is a meandering tale of memories and connections, lives lived and lost against a backdrop of Cornwall, with miners, fishermen and wise old women.
The narrative is strung together by a soldier arriving on an old woman’s doorstep, or shoreline to be more accurate, but really it is a collection of memories. Some are all too real are harsh, and those take longer to unravel, but many are through the fog of time, embellished for comfort. Marvellous appears to be showing the signs of dementia; Drake finds a collection of notes that she leaves to remind her of facts. She asks who made the tea that she herself had just made.
After introducing Marvellous, quite a bit of time is spent with Drake, which is contrasting to the rest of the book. His story in London feels like straight historical fiction, and it brushes with …
A Year of Marvellous Ways is a meandering tale of memories and connections, lives lived and lost against a backdrop of Cornwall, with miners, fishermen and wise old women.
The narrative is strung together by a soldier arriving on an old woman’s doorstep, or shoreline to be more accurate, but really it is a collection of memories. Some are all too real are harsh, and those take longer to unravel, but many are through the fog of time, embellished for comfort. Marvellous appears to be showing the signs of dementia; Drake finds a collection of notes that she leaves to remind her of facts. She asks who made the tea that she herself had just made.
After introducing Marvellous, quite a bit of time is spent with Drake, which is contrasting to the rest of the book. His story in London feels like straight historical fiction, and it brushes with some of those the war left behind, emotionally chewed up and left to live in this new world. When Drake arrives in Cornwall, it’s as if he’s been transported to another, more magical, land.
There are some wonderful snippets of wisdom from Marvellous. She might start off as seeming a bit mad, believing her mother was a mermaid, but she truly is the wise woman of the area. She receives as much respect as she does rumour. The story wavers between magical realism and reality, touching on aspects of Cornish folklore. The sea and the living world, are very much a part of it.
Beautifully written but left me a bit confused at the end. I’m open to accepting lack of speech marks when it serves a purpose but it just didn’t work for me here and I find myself losing the thread of speech quite often. There’s a slight fairy tale air about some of the characters which meant they didn’t stick in my mind and the connections at the end didn’t fall into place that easily.
Review copy provided by publisher.
