Review: The Woman Behind the Waterfall by Leonora Meriel
Heartbreak and transformation in the beauty of a Ukrainian village.
For seven-year old Angela, happiness is exploring the lush countryside around her home in western Ukraine. Her wild imagination takes her into birds and flowers, and into the waters of the river.
All that changes when, one morning, she sees her mother crying. As she tries to find out why, she is drawn on an extraordinary journey into the secrets of her family, and her mother's fateful choices.
Can Angela lead her mother back to happiness before her innocence is destroyed by the shadows of a dark past?
Beautiful, poetic and richly sensory, this is a tale that will haunt and lift its readers.
Reviews for The Woman Behind the Waterfall
“Readers looking for a classic tale of love and loss will be rewarded with an intoxicating world” ~~ Kirkus Reviews
“The language is lyrical and poetic and, in places, begs to be read repeatedly for the sheer joy of it… A literary work of art.” ~~ Fiona Adams, The Richmond Magazine
“Rich and poetic in detail, it is an often dreamy, oneiric narrative rooted in an exaltation of nature… A lovely novel.” ~~ IndieReader
Books Eater's Review
It is a very unique story and with the power to draw readers in, making them forget about the world around them. As soon as I started reading this book nothing else existed for me. I simply couldn't put it down, so I recommend that you read it when you've enough spare time at hand.
It tells us a story of a little girl, Angela, who lives with her mother in the same house where her mother grew up. She has never met her father and is curious about his absence in their lives. However, she soon realizes that talking about him makes her mother upset. Sometimes she wonder if she the reason behind her mother's sadness. But slowly things are becoming clearer. Her mother, Lyuda, has many regrets but Angela is most definitely not one of them.
Sometimes story is told from different perspectives, but mostly it is Angela's story. How she sees the world, how she sees her mother, and we also sees her grandmother through her mind. These three women are the focus of this poetic narration. I must confess that I'm not much familiar with literary fiction, I think this is my third such book, but as far as I'm concerned it is quite well-written and intriguing story. I especially loved the mystical nature of it all. It makes one wonder about life and a lot small things which have big consequences.
It's a beautifully written novel, even though story is not anything unusual, but the way it is written most certainly is. I'd recommend it literary fans and anyone who is not afraid to read outside of their preferred genre.
P.S. I received a complimentary copy of this book, for which I'd like to thank the author.
About the Author
Leonora Meriel grew up in London and studied literature at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Queen’s University in Canada. She worked at the United Nations in New York, and then for a multinational law firm.
In 2003 she moved from New York to Kyiv, where she founded and managed Ukraine’s largest Internet company. She studied at Kyiv Mohyla Business School and earned an MBA, which included a study trip around China and Taiwan, and climbing to the top of Hoverla, Ukraine’s highest peak and part of the Carpathian Mountains. She also served as President of the International Women’s Club of Kyiv, a major local charity.
During her years in Ukraine, she learned to speak Ukrainian and Russian, witnessed two revolutions and got to know an extraordinary country at a key period of its development.
In 2008, she decided to return to her dream of being a writer, and to dedicate her career to literature. In 2011, she completed The Woman Behind the Waterfall, set in a village in western Ukraine. While her first novel was with a London agent, Leonora completed her second novel The Unity Game, set in New York City and on a distant planet.
Leonora currently lives in Barcelona and London and has two children. She is working on her third novel.
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave a comment, share your thoughts.