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It would seem like a new beginning, but Alex seemed like she’d lost the love of her life, and will be in mourning forever after that. To escape the demons of her past, she starts a new life in Edinburgh and becomes a teacher of troubled children at a Pupil Referral Unit.
The story starts off in the present perspective, where we find our main character teacher talking to lawyers about how some horrible incident occurred. A celebration of womanhood through short stories centered on women with a mix of historic, tale, and of course magic, voices. a powerful piece about a WWII rebellion I couldn’t face and a fascinating one about menopause and ageing, “Dragon” by Stella Duffy. Shamsie has the most interesting and unexpected label, taking on the Churail, an Urdu word for a mournful, ghostly harbinger. This book did incorporate her love and understanding of Greek tragedy well, and found me interested in reading the plays talked about that I haven't read yet.As thrillers go I think it is definitely somewhat original But as a comparison to the secret history (which I have seen it compared to a couple of times) - it lacks the glamour and eccentric characters. Wench” by Kirsty Logan (4/5)is a beautifully written story that broke my heart but shows resilience among women trapped in unfortunate circumstances. I didn't find the denouement unexpected although it was flagged up as a mystery and the plot seemed to point to a surprising resolution. As her friendship with Gabriel opens up horizons beyond the rocky and treacherous cliffs of her island home, Nuala begins to realise that her deal with the tailor was a bargain she should never have struck.
Where it didn't quite live up to what I wanted was the darker aspects of the plot, and the crime itself; it was a little underwhelming and I had hoped for her to go a lot deeper into the themes and craft a dark, disturbing experience of literature. not a bad thing at all, but if you are looking for The Secret History knockoffs like i always am, know that this is not the same kind of narrative arc. Although I'm aware in a general sort of way what the more famous of the Greek tragedies are about, I've never really given them much thought, far less actually read them.As a reader, I knew that Alex was torn apart by her fiancée Luke’s death, yet I knew next to nothing about Luke (other than his profession) nor did I get a sense of them as a couple. In fact, the diary entries written by Mel – one of Alex’s students – now read to me as by far the strongest part of the novel: she has a believable voice; her narrative pushes the plot forward while also articulating her personal experience of deafness effectively.
these days, then, but as so often with books I loved at some point, I retain a vestigial affection towards it. I’m not quite sure what I found so appealing about Alex, who, this time, I experienced as a rather bland character. Alex takes a job at a Pupil Referral Unit, which accepts the students excluded from other schools in the city. Never quite sure how to properly rate anthologies; some of the short stories I absolutely loved and was disappointed that it wasn’t a full length novel but then there were others that I skim read as they just weren’t for me. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.It wasn't difficult to predict this entire story just based off of what these perspectives represented.
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