The first couple of pages of Christina Sunley’s debut novel, The Tricking of Freya, seem a little awkward. But once it becomes clear that the narrator is writing a letter to an unknown cousin, her Aunt Birdie's child. When things fall into place, the book takes off and powers along right up to the last page.
In her never-finished letter to the cousin she hopes to find, the troubled heroine examines her family’s tribulations as well as her own, following family history from Iceland, to Canada, and back. Sunley does not flinch when writing about mental illness and how people react to it, which makes her book sometimes difficult, but more rewarding that the typical coming-of-age novel.
This is a complex story, well told and thoroughly entertaining.
NOTE
This book was on my LibraryThing Early Reviewer list. One more scratched off.OTHER REVIEWS
Book Dilettante (review and interview) (If you would like your review listed here, please leave a comment with a link and I will add it. )
I'm going to add this one to my list!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the book! Isn't the cover marvelous? I recently reviewed the book and interviewed the author, Christina Sunley. Hope you will visit at Tricking of Freya: interview and review.
ReplyDeleteKristen -- Based on the books you review, I think you would like this one a lot.
ReplyDeleteB.D. -- Thanks for the link! I added it.
Rose City Reader: Thanks for the link add. I've also put a link to your review on my post.
ReplyDeleteThe mental illness was hard to read about but I think it's what gave the book its depth. I'm glad I made it past the awkward beginning too. Here's my review.
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