Catherine O'Flynn, author of What Was Lost
I loved this novel.
The Times
A warm and touching, but blessedly unsentimental, novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
102 of 105 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book starts gently, easing the reader into the world of Gwenni Morgan, a young girl who is fascinated by everything and everyone around her. The author, Strachan, introduces a splendidly entertaining cast of misfits and eccentrics, made all the more entertaining because they feel so real. In 1950s Welsh village life, everyone knows everyone's business but no-one ever says a thing.
Gwenni is a wide-eyed, captivated observer of everything that goes on. She describes the people, their clothes, their mannerisms - often in hilarious terms but always in manner consistent with her charming character. Strachan does a splendid job of maintaining Gwenni's voice and personality throughout.
It is this attention to detail that makes the story so beguiling. It quickly gathers pace with a missing man, police enquiries and a murder investigation all careering headlong into a surprising - and yet entirely logical - climax.
This is one of those books you read at one sitting, tea and biscuits at your side and a big 'Do Not Disturb' notice on the door. Superb.
Gwenni is a wide-eyed, captivated observer of everything that goes on. She describes the people, their clothes, their mannerisms - often in hilarious terms but always in manner consistent with her charming character. Strachan does a splendid job of maintaining Gwenni's voice and personality throughout.
It is this attention to detail that makes the story so beguiling. It quickly gathers pace with a missing man, police enquiries and a murder investigation all careering headlong into a surprising - and yet entirely logical - climax.
This is one of those books you read at one sitting, tea and biscuits at your side and a big 'Do Not Disturb' notice on the door. Superb.
59 of 64 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
According to Wikipedia, an ingénue is "a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome". She is generally accompanied, as foil, by a vamp and there is often a romantic subplot featuring a young man just as innocent as the ingénue.
On this template, Mari Strachan has constructed a beautiful story set in a small Welsh village within sight of Snowdon in the late 1950s.
The ingénue is Gwenni Morgan, poised at the very end of childhood, who is bright, imaginative and therefore considered "odd" by her stolid peers, mother and sister. Her Kindred Spirit and Best Friend, Alwenna, is the knowing vamp, who has just discovered boys. Gwenni's `romantic interest' comes towards the end and is hardly that, a merest precursor for what is to come.
It is a truth universally understood that remote rural villages are hotbeds of illicit relationships overlaid with secrets and lies. The death of one of the villagers leads to an investigation and Gwenni is determined to play detective. Her relentless, innocent "childish" questions directly challenge the protective hypocrisy all around. It's scary stuff.
Ms Strachan has a wonderful feel for poverty in the 1950s. Her descriptions of the Morgans' domestic life: bed-sharing, paper thin walls, freezing cold, disgusting food, baths in front of the fire, a relentless lack of privacy, draw one into a life before this one. I am old enough to remember this the first time round and it certainly felt horribly authentic.
The plot is carefully handled, and the book rapidly becomes a real page turner. The intelligence in this book is that even as the reader reaches the end, and has the momentary illusion that all loose ends have been definitively tied up, there comes a realisation that all of what we think we know is in fact ambiguous. We may hope that Gwenni has finally come to a complete understanding, but she does have a habit of putting the best complexion on things.
The first person narrative style and linear development make this a suitable book for the `young adult' as well as adult market. It was also serialised on BBC Radio 4's "A Book at Bedtime". Highly recommended.
On this template, Mari Strachan has constructed a beautiful story set in a small Welsh village within sight of Snowdon in the late 1950s.
The ingénue is Gwenni Morgan, poised at the very end of childhood, who is bright, imaginative and therefore considered "odd" by her stolid peers, mother and sister. Her Kindred Spirit and Best Friend, Alwenna, is the knowing vamp, who has just discovered boys. Gwenni's `romantic interest' comes towards the end and is hardly that, a merest precursor for what is to come.
It is a truth universally understood that remote rural villages are hotbeds of illicit relationships overlaid with secrets and lies. The death of one of the villagers leads to an investigation and Gwenni is determined to play detective. Her relentless, innocent "childish" questions directly challenge the protective hypocrisy all around. It's scary stuff.
Ms Strachan has a wonderful feel for poverty in the 1950s. Her descriptions of the Morgans' domestic life: bed-sharing, paper thin walls, freezing cold, disgusting food, baths in front of the fire, a relentless lack of privacy, draw one into a life before this one. I am old enough to remember this the first time round and it certainly felt horribly authentic.
The plot is carefully handled, and the book rapidly becomes a real page turner. The intelligence in this book is that even as the reader reaches the end, and has the momentary illusion that all loose ends have been definitively tied up, there comes a realisation that all of what we think we know is in fact ambiguous. We may hope that Gwenni has finally come to a complete understanding, but she does have a habit of putting the best complexion on things.
The first person narrative style and linear development make this a suitable book for the `young adult' as well as adult market. It was also serialised on BBC Radio 4's "A Book at Bedtime". Highly recommended.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
The first thing I noticed when reading "The Earth Hums in B Flat", the debut novel by Mari Strachan, is that the author entered the mindset of a girl on the brink of adolescence in an utterly convincing manner.
Set in Wales in the 1950s, "The Earth Hums in B Flat" is a tale told in the first person of Gwenni, a young girl who is considered 'odd' by her mother and older sister, mainly due to her over-active imagination and her need to know the truth. Her innocent curiosity into the adult world and the way grown-ups behave compels her to turn detective when a local man is murdered.
While Gwenni is clearly still clinging on to parts of childhood (her doll, her daydreaming) she is also forced into adulthood almost against her will (finding out that a boy likes her, starting her periods, looking after her family). The reader is shown this transition in all its painful awkwardness. The way Gwenni escapes from her troubles and her suffocating family life is to imagine herself flying above the village whilst listening to the earth sing. This imagery is stunning.
As a reader, you find yourself in the unique position of knowing more than your heroine. I understood what was happening to the village and Gwenni's family and why her parents were acting and reacting in the way they were before Gwenni did, and it was interesting to watch her work things out in her own way. As it turns out, Gwenni is an extremely clever young lady who understands her community better than anyone else as she learns to ignore the local gossips and uncover the truth, even though ultimately it is a truth that must remain hidden.
I think "The Earth Hums in B Flat" is a beautifully written and utterly compelling book. It would certainly appeal to teenagers as well as young adults, and Gwenni is a hugely likeable character. I did find myself feeling a little sad knowing that I was watching a child rapidly losing her innocence, knowing that she would never be able to go back. Thoroughly recommended.
Set in Wales in the 1950s, "The Earth Hums in B Flat" is a tale told in the first person of Gwenni, a young girl who is considered 'odd' by her mother and older sister, mainly due to her over-active imagination and her need to know the truth. Her innocent curiosity into the adult world and the way grown-ups behave compels her to turn detective when a local man is murdered.
While Gwenni is clearly still clinging on to parts of childhood (her doll, her daydreaming) she is also forced into adulthood almost against her will (finding out that a boy likes her, starting her periods, looking after her family). The reader is shown this transition in all its painful awkwardness. The way Gwenni escapes from her troubles and her suffocating family life is to imagine herself flying above the village whilst listening to the earth sing. This imagery is stunning.
As a reader, you find yourself in the unique position of knowing more than your heroine. I understood what was happening to the village and Gwenni's family and why her parents were acting and reacting in the way they were before Gwenni did, and it was interesting to watch her work things out in her own way. As it turns out, Gwenni is an extremely clever young lady who understands her community better than anyone else as she learns to ignore the local gossips and uncover the truth, even though ultimately it is a truth that must remain hidden.
I think "The Earth Hums in B Flat" is a beautifully written and utterly compelling book. It would certainly appeal to teenagers as well as young adults, and Gwenni is a hugely likeable character. I did find myself feeling a little sad knowing that I was watching a child rapidly losing her innocence, knowing that she would never be able to go back. Thoroughly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tragically beautiful
This is one of the most beautiful books I have read. You will laugh as you remember and weep as you may try to forget. Read more
Published 19 days ago by J. Moore
Excellent service; book in perfect condition
Beautifully written and very successfully creates life in a small Welsh town a few years ago as seen through the eyes of a twelve year old girl. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ms E M F Parnwell
Family secrets
I have read this book as a book club recommendation and would probably otherwise never have found it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ignite
"...I've got a bone to pick with you!"
This is an easy, gentle sort of read, which plugs into the early teenage years when life becomes both better and worse. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Eileen Shaw
Darkly charming
When I first read the synopses I groaned and thought 'oh not another plucky girl playing detective book' (not that I read many of those, but it just didn't sound very original. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Willis
A really engaging story
I found this a really engaging story told from the perspective of a thirteen year old girl. I thought I wouldn't like it because of this but the more I read the more I got sucked... Read more
Published 7 months ago by E. Armstrong
The earth sings in Wales
Lovely storey, but if your Welsh even lovelier, typical welsh idioms that amused and took you back to childhood. Looking forward to the next book.
Published 10 months ago by Pat
An enchanting story
I loved this novel. What a wonderful, enchanting story and this author's first book. It deals with difficult subjects, seen through the eyes of Gwenni, a young girl living in a... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Freckles
Excellent, engaging, gripping, brilliant writing
An excellent novel, one of my best reads of the year. Strachan's writing is wonderful, drawing you in immediately and keeping the reader enthralled for the rest of the novel. Read more
Published 11 months ago by BookWorm
I liked it.......
This book was interesting and pulled me in pretty quickly (within the first few pages). Aside from feeling a slight attachment with the book due to it's setting being in Wales (my... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Sian
Popular Highlights
(What's this?)
how the Earths deep, never-ending note clothes me in rainbow colours, fills my head with all the books ever written, and feeds me with the smell of Mrs Sergeant Joness famous vanilla biscuits and the strawberry taste of Instant Whip and the cool slipperiness of glowing red jelly. I could stay up here for ever without the need for anything else in the whole world.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle users
She thinks she knows everything. But to know isnt to understand, is it?
Highlighted by 4 Kindle users
shape of the Earths song on mine, constant as the hum of bees in summer.
Highlighted by 4 Kindle users
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