Laird Hunt

I was all over the place on how to rate this. It's a book you have to finish to see it come together. I was thinking I would rate it a 2/5 until pretty close to the end, when it suddenly jumped to a 3 or possibly even 4/5 for me. It read like a series of weird, unconnected, seemingly arbitrary episodes, but there is a lot that isn't what it seems in this novel.

Being a fairy-tale-style witch story set in the woods of colonial New England, the book rightly reads like a fever dream. But I think there are some weaknesses that hold it back, mainly clear info being suddenly spat out at the story's convenience on a few occasions. The way it was done came across a bit clumsy to me, but thankfully Laird Hunt was more creative with the final change abouts.

While it's not something that gives me the feeling of wanting to read it again soon, I could see myself picking it up some Octobers from now to see how it reads in hindsight. I also hope someone makes a movie version, because I could see a creepy, visually impressive psychological horror film come out of this.… (mais)

Received from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

The book is told in the voice of Constance "Gallant Ash" Thompson who goes to fight in the Civil War dressed as a man, leaving her husband back on their farm. It's not a history of the War per se, with Ash taking part in few large set pieces. However it's a very personal war, where you hear of the skirmishes that Ash does take part in: The killings (Ash does plenty herself and partway through it has become second nature and almost irrelevant to her), the kidnappings, the deaths, the continuous marching and near-starvation (so the troop often have to rely on Ash's sniper ability to kill squirrels). Meanwhile Ash tells her story of the husband she left behind, writing letters, whilst occasionally having conversations in her head with her long dead mother.

Finally Ash gets to go home to her husband and her farm, and finding everything - including herself - has changed, and not all for the better. The language used is simple and uncomplicated, as befitting a farmer's wife who has spent more time with the land than on any schooling. There's little dialogue for much of the book, with information most commonly imparted as Ash looks back on the day. It's not for the faint of heart, yes war is ugly, and little is hidden in this book.

Laird Hunt manages to pull off a book about a little known part of war, where apparently ~400 women disguised themselves s men to take part in the battles. Constance is in no way a Scarlett O'Hara - the latter using all her traits as a woman to get what she wants, where as Constance decides to be a man to get what she thinks she wants.… (mais)

I picked up this book from the shop purely from liking it's cover.
I loved it. It was a little tricky to get into I'll admit, but I got hooked. I had to let go of my inquisitive thoughts and just let myself take in the story.
The atypical writing style only makes it feel more fairytale-like. It felt like a dream, or some kind of nightmare, it was hard to tell. I loved the feeling of only getting drips and drops of information as and when the character feels like disclosing anything, this is something there should be more of in literature. It's not just reading a linear story, it's experiencing something new, or maybe something like witchcraft itself.

I was surprised when I saw so many negative reviews, especially about it not having a conclusion, I found the ending quite satisfying.… (mais)