Days of Light by Megan Hunter
Published by Pan Macmillan/Picador
ISBN 9781529010183
This beautifully written book begins on Easter Sunday in 1938. Ivy is 19 and unsure what comes next in her life. She lives in the family home, Cressingdon, with her mother and her mother's partner, who has other relationships as well. Her father left a long time ago, living with various other women, but is still involved in family life, as is longtime family friend, Bear. There's excitement on this day because Joseph, Ivy's older brother is home from Oxford for the holiday and everyone is looking forward to meeting his girlfriend, Frances, for the first time. On this Easter morning, no one knows that before the day ends, tragedy will strike, changing everyone's lives in profound ways. The book continues from there, telling Ivy's story through the decades, with each chapter a day in her life.
Ivy is clearly a seeker of something, although even she isn't sure what she's looking for other than a place to belong. She is surrounded by artists of one kind or another, but she herself doesn't seem to have any spectacular ability or interest in any artistic pursuits. Her education has been quite poor. She thinks about God and has fond, comforting memories of going to church with her grandmother. She feels most at home outside and indeed, it is outdoors on the family estate where she first 'sees the light' which will be with her for the rest of her life. As we follow Ivy on particular days in the decades to come, seeing the light, whether metaphorically or in reality is a recurring theme(thus the title of the book).
This is a wonderful book. The writing is exquisite. The structure works well as we see Ivy growing into a more secure sense of who she is. We also see the society around her changing. It's a coming of age story of a sort because even though Ivy is 19 when the book opens, she is very naive and acts much younger. This book was my introduction to this author's work and I enjoyed it so much that I'm now reading her previous books. If you enjoy character-driven narratives, books about women's lives, the search for self and a place to belong, and/or historical fiction, I can enthusiastically recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a DRC.
8 comments:
A sterling review, Shari. Obviously a book that impressed you greatly and that’s always a wonderful feeling. Keep on reading! I promise I will too.
Thanks, David--read on we shall! :-)
This sounds like a good read. You find some fascinating books Shari. It's always great to get some suggestions from you.
Thanks, Erika. I'm always happy to spread the word about books :-) I think you posted a while back about Queens of Crime, which I found at the library after reading your post. I put myself in the queue and it just went in transit the other day.
This sounds a very good read, a big thank you for highlighting it.
All the best Jan
Have a great weekend, Jan.
This book sounds so good that I looked it up and it's not being released here in the US until next month. I book marked it though. Thanks for the recommendation.
I wonder if it'll have a different cover there. I find it interesting how sometimes the cover designs and/or titles of books are different in the UK and US. Decades ago, when I first discovered Agatha Christie, I'd take my allowance money to the bookstore to buy books. More than once I got excited because I saw a title that I didn't recognize only to find out later that it was a book I'd read under a different name. Very disappointing!
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