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Another Kind of Loving by Sylvie Nickels (view source)
Revision as of 08:52, 7 September 2020
, 08:52, 7 September 2020no edit summary
I loved Minkie from the moment we met her as a fierce young girl grasping a ''Winnie the Pooh'' book. Sylvie Nickels knows young people and Minkie's development is utterly convincing: I ''know'' that she couldn't have turned out any other way than she did – this is very sure-footed character development and it runs through the other characters too.
Sara is a little selfish, but finding yourself guardian to a young girl without much warning is a lot to ask of anyone. It's easy to see how she slides into an affair with Berry, whom she knew (perhaps a little too well) when she was at school. Mike's away a lot of the time and the fact that he's usually somewhere dangerous means that she either has to worry constantly – or have a little distance between them. Berry fills that distance more than adequately. Mike has his own history to hide and eventually to explore as he sense senses the growing distance between Sara and himself.
Sylvie Nickels knows what I still have a habit of referring to as 'the former Yugoslavia', having been a travel writer specialising in the area which she's known for over forty years. She has it perfectly, and not just from the point of view of the landscape. She understands the area and she knows the history. This is a book written from a depth of knowledge and not from research.
I'd like to thank the author for sending a copy to the Bookbag. We also have a review of [[Long Shadows by Sylvie Nickels]], the final part of the trilogy.
For another look at the problems encountered by refugees from the former Yugoslavia , we can recommend [[What Is She Doing Here? by Kate Clanchy]] and [[Bluebird: A Memoir by Vesna Maric]].
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