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Becoming Leidah
Becoming Leidah | Michelle Grierson
3 posts | 3 read | 8 to read
An utterly gripping love story set in nineteenth-century Norway, about a woman rescued from the sea, the fisherman who marries her, their tiny and unusually gifted daughter, and the shapeshifter who follows their every move, perfect for fans of Eowyn Ivey, Alice Hoffman, and Neil Gaiman. In the hinterlands of old Norway, Leidah Aldesteadt is born blue-skinned, with webbed hands and feet. Upon every turn of season, her mother, Maeva, worries as her daughters peculiarities blossominside the root of the tiny child, a strange power is taking hold. Maeva tries to hide the girl from the suspicious townsfolk of the austere village of rken, just as she conceals her own magical ancestry from her daughter. And Maevas adoring husband, Pieter, wants nothing more than for his new family to be accepted by all. But unlike Pieter, who is blinded by love, Maeva is aware that the villagers, who profess a rigid faith to the new God and claim to have abandoned the old ways, are watching any sign of transgressionand are eager to pounce and punish. Following both mother and daughter from the shadows and through time, an inquisitive shapeshifter waits for the Fates to spin their web, and for Maeva to finally reclaim who she once was. And as Maevas elusive past begins to beckon, she realizes that she must help her daughter navigate and control her own singular birthright if the child is to survive the human world. But the protective love Pieter has for his family is threatening the secure life they have slowly built and increasingly becoming a tragic obstacle. Witnessing this, Maeva comes to a drastic conclusion: she must make Leidah promise to keep a secret from Pietera perilous one that may eventually free them all.
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review
LikelyLibrarian
Becoming Leidah | Michelle Grierson
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Mehso-so

This book had a beautiful cover and an interesting premise, but to be honest, it was almost a pan. The writing is beautiful, and in general, the story is magical, but I‘m not a fan of novels that pit women against each other as they fight over a man, something the author seemingly did in an attempt to create sympathy for an abusive husband. But in the end, I‘m glad I finished. The end was creative and redeeming and the best part of the novel.

review
AllisonM89
Becoming Leidah | Michelle Grierson
Mehso-so

The first third of the book was slow enough that I wasn't invested.
Maeva and Leidah are beautiful characters that you come to love over the course of the story.
Then there's Pieter. He can go to hell. He's a male character straight from a Barbara Kingsolver novel. And the worst of women. A village ready for a witch hunt. A self-serving witch that you hate just as much as Pieter.
With this book, it helps to be familiar with Norse mythology

blurb
AllisonM89
Becoming Leidah | Michelle Grierson
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I'm reading all these stellar reviews on goodreads and I'm wondering if I'm really reading the same book these other reviewers read. At best, 60 pages in, this book is the epitome of fine, nothing special 🤷‍♀️