I had once read Kingfisher’s Digger(written under Ursula Vernon) and therefore was already a fan. I follow her on various social media, watching her write stories about sheep, or spirits, or microscopic stories that you tend to get from such things.
However, for some reason, it never occurred to me to read her books. For shame!!
Anyway, I borrowed it from the library, but because I have a habit of putting things down and then making them invisible to myself, I only picked it up on the secondtime I borrowed it, the day before it was due. In the amount of time it takes for me to attend the cats meal time (they will not eat much without a trusted supervisor, which is sad, but at the same time it feels quite nice to be such a necessary part of their little meal ritual aside from being the one who dishes out the food) I blasted through the first three chapters.
And then I found I could not renew the book, since someone else wished to read it, and I enjoyed it so much and had so little time to read at home that I… bought it. Digital, of course, I haven’t got a huge amount of room to store books. But perhaps at some point I will reconsider.
In any case, I do truly enjoy the way Kingfisher phrases things. It gives quite a voice to both the author and character.
It’s a book filled with love.
Yes, even in the Acknowledgements, the author points out she feels it’s sweet but many disagree. But it is! It is so very sweet. It’s someone who is homesick and misses the love of the many mothers she has, and the acceptance they give her, and the love she has for them. The struggle with being something other, but meeting someone who is, in a way, also other and gives an unexpected love.
I would not call it a romance (though some would disagree), so much as someone finding comfort in the odd belonging and understanding of another.
Anyhow. I really like this.
