Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The House At Zaronza

Title: The House At Zaronza        
Author: Vanessa Couchman
Publisher: Crooked Cat Publishing Ltd    
Publish date: July 2014
ISBN-10: 190984182X
ISBN-13: 978-1909841826


The story of a Corsican woman in the early part of the 20th century, set within the framework of the enquiries of an interested party from present-day UK. Engaging, intriguing and increasingly un-putdownable.


The book takes an unflinching look at what it meant to be female at that time and place, with a realistic first-person narrative. The fictional author voice’s credibility stems partly from changing over the course of the novel, from naïve young woman to WW1 nurse and beyond – this with the added complexity of the narrative being written as a retrospective memoir. The portions on nursing on the Front are for me the most gripping. They fit in with the ruggedly un-melodramatic stoicism of the main character to pack a force of narrative that leaves one quite stunned.


Would recommend without reservation.