Despite her being a prolific author this is the first of Jennifer E Smith’s books that I’ve read. I found it to be an enjoyable, although emotional, read. And I think for anyone who has lost their mum it may affect them. It’s a story of family dynamics, partly fractured, dealing with bereavement and healing.
And for any Titanic buffs out there the title will resonate. The unsinkable Molly Brown was an indomitable force in one of the lifeboats helping to evacuate passengers. helping to steer the boat and by all accounts was a larger-than-life character. The comparison is partially a symbolic one. Greta James is not as ‘in your face’ as Molly and the action takes place on board a boat, sorry ship, that doesn’t sink. And the story really is about Greta trying to stay afloat, not on the boat, sorry ship, but in life. The book also looks at the relationship she has with her father.
The ship, too, serves as a symbol of Greta’s artistic and personal claustrophobia, in fact the whole concept of the cruise works very well as a metaphor for this indie musician’s struggles. The Alaskan landscape too with its glaciers, sea lions, whales all sustain the metaphors.
Although this book might be categorised as romantic fiction genre it does go beyond that with its observations of how people deal with losing someone they love, it’s cultural allusions, the nature of creativity and passion. The characters are well drawn unbelievable. You feel the pain in the conflict between Greta and Conrad, her father. I thought the author achieved a good balance between being compassionate yet not overly sentimental which could’ve been easy to do. The ending is satisfactory, enigmatic even, without being predictable, another trap that it would’ve been easy to fall into. It’s an entertaining read that offers its audience things to consider.
My thanks to team bookends for a gifted copy and to Milly Reid at Quercus Books for a spot upon the blog tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment