Review/recenzija: Lorna Gray: In the Shadow of Winter
Recenziju na hrvatskom potra�ite ispod recenzije na engleskom ??
Welcome to my first post of 2017! I hope you've had nice holidays and are now ready for everything 2017 has to offer!
This year I'll start with a review of a book that came to me as a Christmas gift from my lovely bookish friend Nina from Life of a Bookworm book blog. Today I'm writing about the novel In the Shadow of Winter by Lorna Gray.
One night of a cold winter of 1947 Eleanor Phillips rode out to save an injured stranger. After taking a good look at a man, she soon realized the man wasn't as unknown as he was unexpected. Eleanor knew Matthew Croft for a long time and maybe even better that she had ever wanted.
After she helps to save his life, many of Cotswolds villagers start coming over to her house with news of a recent murder and the name of the prime suspect: Matthew Croft.
Because of her romantic history with Matthew, people seem to think she would be the person he would run to in case of danger. Eleanor now has to decide whether to trust Matthew to be innocent and let him hide at her house even though deep down she still suffers from his unexpected walking out on her more than 8 years ago.
In the Shadow of Winter, a novel written in 2015, leads us to 1947 Great Britain, where people live a new life after a World War 2. Our protagonist is a women in her mid-twenties that lives alone and isolated due to low temperatures and great amount of snow.
What makes this novel different from the ones I usually read is the fact that, in this one, deep inner analysis of protagonist's feelings don't exist (normally they show up during inner monologues or sex scenes). Romantic scenes are rare, if not nonexistent and are only visible in motives like touching somebody's hand or faltering dialogues. From today's perspective those scenes would seem reserved or boring, but they are highly natural. After all, in many cases that is exactly how love is born. Great gestures are still a rarity.
Among the parts that I don't specially like is all that attention paid to the mystery behind a murderer on a loose. That attention is the reason why the book is based on descriptions and narrative, with very small number of dialogues. It makes the story a bit dry and slow and it takes away the opportunity to connect with characters in the deeper level.
To conclude, I would say that the novel in front of us is one that offers a lot to learn, from the post-war condition of life in a small village to the way how to describe romance in a realistic way. The main flaw would be the lack of any kind of dynamic in narration and too many descriptions. But if those are the qualities you are looking for, In the Shadow of Winter is a right novel for you. Let me know what you think,
Rose ?
Dobrodo�li na prvi post u 2017! Nadam se da ste �ivi i zdravi, puni energije i motivacije da ovu 2017. u�inite godinom svojih snova ??
Zapo�ev�i ovu recenziju, primijetila sam da ve� dugo nisam pisala post o knjizi koju nemamo prevedenu. Roman In the Shadow of Winter dobila sam, pa mogli bismo re�i za Bo�i�, jer ne znam je li Nina ciljala da stigne par dana prije ili se jednostavno tako poklopilo, od moje drage Life of a Bookworm. Kad knjigu dobijem, uvijek �u o njoj ne�to napisati jer mislim da je to jedan od na�ina zahvale na tome �to mi je bila poslana.
Hladne zime 1947. Eleanor Phillips ja�e s namjerom da spasi ozlije�enog stranca. Nakon �to ga uspije dobro promotriti, shvati da stranac nije ni upola toliko nepoznat koliko je neo�ekivan. Naime, Eleanor poznaje Matthewa Crofta i bolje nego �to bi mo�da �eljela.
Kad mu pru�i neodgodivu pomo� i pobrine se da pre�ivi, na Eleanorina vrata nahrupe mje�tani s vijestima o iznenadnom ubojstvu u selu, a glavni osumnji�eni je �ovjek kojega ona skriva.
Zbog njezine pro�lost s Matthewom, prakti�ki svaka osoba u selu sigurna je u to da je on ba� kod nje potra�io uto�i�te, a Eleanor mora odlu�iti vjeruje li u Matthewovu nevinost i mo�e li ga, unato� tome da joj je jednom slomio srce, i dalje skrivati pod svojim krovom.
Matthew pak, �im se oporavi dovoljno da se mo�e kretati, zapo�ne vlastitu istragu ubojstva koje mu je pripisano, pa se on i Eleanor uskoro na�u u igri u kojoj se otkrije da doslovno svaki od onih koji tako posve�eno tra�e krivca, mo�e biti ubojica koji im prijeti.
Matthew, on the other hand, starts his own investigation that soon leads Eleanor and him to suspect of people they never thought would be able of committing such a crime.
Matthew, on the other hand, starts his own investigation that soon leads Eleanor and him to suspect of people they never thought would be able of committing such a crime.
Ovaj roman napisan je 2015.godine, a radnja mu je smje�tena u 1947. u Velikoj Britaniji, dok ljudi jo� �ive svjesni posljedica Drugog svjetskog rata. Radnja se odvija u ruralnom dijelu dr�ave, a glavna junakinja, �ena u srednjim dvadesetim godinama, �ivi sama i prili�no odvojena od prvih susjeda, koliko stvarnom fizi�kom udaljeno��u, toliko i te�kim snijegom koji je zatrpao njihov kraj.
Ono po �emu je ovaj roman druga�iji od knjiga koje u posljednje vrijeme �itam je to da se u njemu ne inzistira na dubokoj analizi osje�aja protagonista (obi�no kroz unutarnje monologiziranje ili seks), nego je pristup romanti�noj strani pri�e minimalisti�ki, a opet ga ima. Takve scene opisane su u duhu vremena, a o�ituju se u laganim dodirima ruku i nesigurnim dijalozima, pa bi u usporedbi s dana�njim direktnim na�inom opisivanja mogle djelovati previ�e suzdr�ano. Ono �to svakako jesu, su prirodne. Velike geste jo� uvijek su rijetkost i u stvarnom �ivotu, a ljubav se ve�inom ra�a neprimjetna.
Od dijelova koji mi nisu omiljeni to je najprije velika pa�nja posve�ena misteriju koji prati glavnog lika, Matthewa Crofta, puno ve�a nego ona posve�ena samoj ljubavnoj pri�i. To dovodi do toga da se veliki postotak knjige temelji na opisivanju i naraciji, �to zna�i nedostatak dijaloga. On pak sa sobom donosi nemogu�nost da se potpuno u�ivim u likove, a zato jer ima toliko pripovijedanja napetost se potpuno razvodni pa pri�a postaje spora.
Moj zaklju�ak je da pred sobom imamo jednu pri�u iz koje puno toga mo�emo nau�iti, po�ev�i o poslijeratnom stanju jedne seoske sredine pa do toga kako ljubavnu pri�u prikazati na realisti�an na�in. Ono gdje bismo mogli zapeti je sporost radnje i manjak bilo kakve dinami�nosti. Ako ste �itatelj koji se voli upu�tati u ba� takve avanture, onda je ovo naslov za kojim trebate posegnuti.
Ako ste ga slu�ajno ve� �itali, podijelite s nama �to mislite,
Rose ?
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