The Unknown Reader will be reviewing ebooks. Naturally, she has strong opinions about her reading material. Over the holidays the Unknown Reader ventured West to San Diego so we took advantage of the opportunity to capture a portrait of her in front of a mosaic in Solana Beach, CA, doing what she does best–reading!
When I read The Light Between Oceans, (M. L. Stedman, Scribner 2012) I had my guard up. Compared to the classic lit I’d been sampling (like Austen’s Emma and Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes escapades) how could a living author measure up?
My cynicism slowly sputtered out (and with thousands of reader ratings online, earning it #1 Historical Fiction of 2012 on goodreads, it is already becoming a reliably good read). By the time I hit Part Two (a quarter through the book), I was hooked in the net of intertwining lives, building suspense, and connection to the characters. I craved Australia’s shores while I ached with heavy post-war pain and joy. Nothing like a well-researched, well-plotted historical fiction novel to take my guard down.
As a brief, vague, non-spoiler nutshell, here’s what you’re in for:
1. Wondering how to deal with life and love after various trauma
2. Life’s (and the plot’s) crisscrossing paths
3. Omniscient glimpses into each character’s perspective
4. Mysteries existence, birth, death, souls, God, fate, hope, love
5. Neatly tucked in figurative language (heavy-handed at times)
6. Realistic dialogue (with nifty post-WWI and tech jargon)
7. Feeling the ocean’s salty spray (through fresh, lively verbs)
