I just finished Away by Jane Urquhart. It is a novel that is set in Ireland and Canada. It was a type of story that I wanted to like, but could never get into it. I found myself having to reread entire sections because I couldn't stay focused. The history and politics throughout the book could have been made into a more interesting story, but unfortunately it never captivated me.
Excerpts from the book:
Winter became a season of waiting, almost a hibernation, the odd neighbor breaking into the trance of the cabin...
We collected folklore. He thought he loved legends – but you can't love something you don't believe in and he never believed a word of it.
"I think the English took the land from the Indians same as they took it from the Irish. Then they just starve everybody out, or they evict them, or both."
"All stories.. have sorrows." She sensed her own story unfolding without her as she cooked or slept or built fires, trapped by winter in a house from which all action had fled. Powerless, she had not even the ownership of her sorrows...Years later Eileen would tell her granddaughter, "This is what love is like, one is asleep and the other is awake but you never know which one is dreaming."
Sounds intriguing. Sounds like a story have to take slowly and digest a little at a time.
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