The Sound Mirror
by Heidi James
- Format Read – ARC Paperback
- How did I get this book – Gifted in exchange for honest review
- Date Read – June 6th – 9th
- Publisher – Bluemoose Books
Today I am bringing you a review of The Sound Mirror by Heidi James. I also have an extract from the beginning of the book that has been kindly provided by the author – just to whet your appetite a little more. 😉
The book is released in August this year via Bluemoose. Bluemoose are an independent publisher who have previously published such hits as Leonard and Hungry Paul and The Gallows Pole. To read more about Bluemoose click HERE.
Tamara is going to kill her mother, but she isn’t the villain. Tamara just has to finish what began at her birth and put an end to the damage encoded in her blood. Leaving her job in Communications, Tamara dresses carefully and hires a car, making the trip from London to her hometown in Kent, to visit her mother for the last time. Accompanied by a chorus of ancestors, Tamara is harried by voices from the past and the future that reveal the struggles, joys and secrets of these women’s lives that continue to echo through and impact her own.
The Sound Mirror spans three familial generations from British Occupied India to Southern England, through intimately rendered characters, Heidi James has crafted a haunting and moving examination of class, war, violence, family and shame from the rich details of ordinary lives.
My Thoughts
Every so often a book comes along that ticks all the boxes. It is immersive, the writing is sublime, and the overall story is magnificent. For me, a book like that only causes one problem. The review I write, will not do it justice. This is one of those books.
This is (in its most concise form) a story of multi-ethnic women in Britain spread over three generations. Tamara herself is set in “present day” England and we follow her journey to visit (kill) her Mother. During her journey we learn about her harsh upbringing and how it both affected her in later life, and the decision she is about to make about her mother. The novel is shared with stories from different times in the past, and two different women – namely Claire and Ada.
Claire is an Italian who was raised in London. We spend time with her during wartime when she was evacuated to Wales and watch her as she grows and learns what is expected of her as the daughter of a grocer in this time.
Ada is a British-Indian whose family return to England when India gains Independence. While many in her situation may have been cast aside in England her pale skin works to her benefit as it allows her to swim in otherwise inaccessible waters – but her perceived beauty also marks her as something men wish to “possess”.
As a white male some of the experiences discussed within the book were eye opening and left me with a lot of food for thought. I cannot even imagine what it is like for any woman to grow up today let alone during war time, but this novel shows us some of the societal pressures that these women faced.
We are drip fed and teased with clues about just how and when the lives of these women will come together. The book is a strange mix of incredibly readable where the reader wants to keep going and going while at the same time there are passages that make you want to stop and take a breath at just how brilliantly written they are.
After I receive an ARC I often read the first couple of pages to get a feel for the book, and return to it later when I have it scheduled. When I opened The Sound Mirror the schedule went out the window. The opening lines hooked me immediately and I just knew this was a book that demanded my immediate attention.
I absolutely loved this; it is chock full of beautifully poetic writing. It has taken me quite a while to process the book enough to be able to even write this review, and it left me with a book hangover the likes of which I haven’t experienced for a while. I cannot recommend this highly enough. I have read a good number of books already this year, and this is going to be up there with the best of them come year end, if not at the very top of the pile.
Don’t just take my word for it though, read the extract below.
Extract
She is going to kill her mother today. But she’s no monster. She’s not the villain. It’s a beautiful day for it, winter sharp, the sky an unfussy blue. She’s taken two days holiday from work and hired a fancy car, a Mercedes, essential for this journey, where appearances and a quick getaway are everything. The man gave her a discount when she told him where she was going. The two-hundred-mile round trip will be a breeze.
She’s dressed carefully too; just jeans and a shirt, but they are expensive, well-cut. Understated, but a signal to those in the know. So here we are, driving down to be face to face with her for the last time. Of course, we’re along for the ride, how could we not?
It’s been a long time coming, and our fault, we should say. Funny that, speaking with one voice now, agreeing with each other. But yes, our fault, and all the others, tangled up with poisons and infections and rottenness. Our mothers and mother’s mothers containing us, we, in their bellies, seeds of each in the cells and the breath. Before the splitting in two, the doubling like an atomic bomb and now she holds us all, a rabble of ancestors, pressing up from inside against her skin, and too, she contains the next generation, if she wanted. If she can bear to, bear it, bear a child. Who could blame her if not? But for now, she’s the sum of all us women, the total. She is what’s left.
The Sound Mirror is available for pre order now! Check out some of the following stores below or pre order at your local independent book shop!
Pre Order Direct from Publisher – Bluemoose
About the author
Heidi James is the author of So the Doves, Wounding and The Mesmerist’s Daughter.
Her novel forthcoming novel, The Sound Mirror, will be published by Bluemoose
Books in August 2020.
Don Jimmy Reviews 