Welcome to Litsy!

Sarah Moss captures perfectly the strange experience of covid lockdown in this excellent short novel. The claustrophobia of confinement at home for Kate, a waitress + single mother, is juxtaposed with her escape into the beauty but danger of the peak district fells. The bk also has 3 other voices, Matt, her son, Alice, her elderly neighbour, + Rob from Mountain Rescue. This is a short book, but written with precision, I was absorbed throughout

Great book about the second lockdown in 2020. What to do if your tempted by the forbidden Lake District. I love the stream of consciousness here and the multi narrator approach as well. Really sums up the well the whole malaise of covid, thank god that‘s over.

Rainy summer Saturdays...

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Yet again... I adore her writing, her Insight into our brains and minds.
This short yet deeply explored novel is set during the lockdown and really brought back those early days of sheer worry, uncertainty and lack of understanding.
Absolutely brilliant.

Well, look at that! Bargain 99p offer on the kindle, as if they knew I wanted to read it... 🤔🤗🤩

Sarah Moss creates such an oppressive atmosphere with her words and really nails some of our feelings, worry and insanity during early COVID times. I find she is a must read author for me. She does so much on just a few pages.

I *think* I liked this. It‘s a bit hard to sort out and explain - I liked the mystery feel and felt invested in the characters, but as someone who struggles with overthinking, it was super close to home. Things the characters were thinking felt familiar, and not even related to Covid or lockdown, just life in general. Overall, I‘d recommend it, but it left me feeling pensive and melancholy. 🤷‍♀️

I really liked this, just not as much as Summerwater.

In a similar vein to Summerwater the author explores the inner thoughts of a small group of people, this time during the pandemic, where one protagonist, Kate, heads off onto the fell when she is supposed to be self-isolating indoors.

My only gripe is that the last ‘Kate‘ paragraphs didn‘t seem to quite tie in to the rest of the book. (See spoiler if you‘ve read the book!)

This novel brings us back to the lockdown in 2020, following the lives of four characters over one evening. I love the intimate observations told through the characters‘ internal monologues..there‘s so much insight and truth in them. Love the writing, and skilfully done, the story is quite tense, at times, witty, as it explores relationships and human connections during the lockdown.

Soaking up the baby cuddles because one day soon he‘s not going to nap on me anymore.

Sarah Moss as always creates a sense of dread. I‘m enjoying this one and a lot of the commentary on different reactions to the pandemic/lockdowns, but it may be just a bit too soon. I‘m not sure if I might have enjoyed it more with a little more distance.

I really enjoy Sarah Moss‘ writing style, and this book was no exception. Similarly to Summerwater, she zooms into the details of her characters‘ inner lives to tell a larger story, in this case the experience of the pandemic.

Didn‘t like this as much as Summerwater, but still loved the writing. It‘s a pandemic tale about neighbors in the English countryside, as Kate heads out on a hill walk with dire consequences. The loneliness and isolation struggles are so relatable, and the way Moss writes inner monologues, with all the minutiae of everyday lives, always feels so intimate. A quiet, affecting novel by a writer who captures the human condition with subtlety and ease.

Some books are physically hard for me to read. When I get one, it is hard for me to separate my discomfort from feelings about it.

This was extremely slow-paced. I didn‘t get a great feel for the characters nor was there a whole lot of plot. Despite loving Summerwater, this was a miss.

A woman under quarantine in 2020, goes for a walk in the hills. When she doesn‘t return, her son is forced to alert the police risking a fine they can‘t afford.

A pandemic novel which is really a character study which is really a look at human psychology, this is a simple story of a woman frustrated by isolating and thus going for a walk, only with a lot more truly going on. I think Moss‘s writing is glorious and I love how she gets into the heads of these characters. I loved this (and love the UK cover).

As with Summerwater, I really liked this, but wanted to get to know the characters more. We only get a fleeting glimpse. But lovely writing, and will act as a record of a strange time. And thanks to @scripturient for getting me onto this one!

I love her writing. This felt a little underdeveloped, but still enjoyed this slight novel. 3.5 🌟

A tightly written, short novel set during the pandemic as Kate struggles with a 14 day isolation. Her decision to go for a walk creates tension which builds as we worry about Kate & her son. Moss is brilliant at capturing the loneliness & disconnect of lockdown but also the compassion & humanity, with spare prose & dry wit. I found it hard to sympathise with Kate so didn‘t love this but Moss slowly reveals how her struggles pre-date this crisis.

I believe #ItsMeNotYou but this book failed to move me. Under 200 pages and I was often bored. It‘s November 2020 & the world is facing yet ANOTHER lockdown. Kate, a single mum is growing antsy from being cooped up so she breaks the mandated quarantine by going out for a solitary hike on a craggy fell, leaving behind her 16yr old son. When she fails to return he must decide to stay quiet or risk getting help. I‘m SO OVER COVID. 👇🏽

Set during the pandemic. A woman in isolation decides to go on a walk and she falls. Through the story we follow her, her son, the neighbor and the rescue team.

The book doesn‘t moralize on the decision to break the isolation, but it does focus on the different aspects of it. The rescue team that are putting themselves at risk and if the woman has COVID, the area won‘t have rescuers. The son home alone. The neighbor who is shielding.

A woman is supposed to be quarantining for 14 days, but she heads out for a hike that takes a bad turn. Very introspective as the narrative focuses on the inner thoughts of the characters. It took me a bit to get used to the stream of consciousness, but the author accurately captured a lot of the fear and panic that occurred in the beginning of the pandemic. I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 #netgalley

I didn't think I was ready to read a book set during the pandemic but I could not ignore a new Sarah Moss. Honestly, this book proves again why she is a writer I will jump to read. In less than 200 pages she manages to give us such a complete, vivid peek into the heads of four distinct individuals as they go through one day of November 2020. It is intense and gripping and makes me want to immediately read all of her books that I have not yet read.

It‘s November 2020 and Kate is in quarantine and she can‘t stand it anymore and goes for a walk, at dusk. She falls and badly injures herself. This novella was thought provoking, it demonstrates compassion, lack of compassion, it‘s witty and wise. Each chapter tells the story of the five characters and what I really liked was how none of their stories were neatly tied up at the end. It‘s all left hanging. Interesting; a definite re-read. 5/5

Thanks Helen for the tag, finally got round to my #top21of21 though reckon I will only get to 75 overall so this is quite a large chunk of what I read! Haven't finished the tagged book yet but think I should and will definitely be in this list! @squirrelbrain

The Fell Sarah Moss
The Heavens Sandra Newman
Holding her Breath Eimear Ryan
The Promise Damon Galgut
The Searcher Tama French
No One is Talking About This Patricia Lockwood

Continued...

As always, I‘m in awe of Moss‘s writing. Not an easy read and if you‘re in pandemic sadness/frustration/fed up - then it‘s probably not the book to read now.
She writes so cleverly and with such insight. I‘m sure we‘ve all had many of these thoughts over the past couple of years.

I enjoy every book Sarah Miss writes. This one is intense. You feel the characters fear and pain. And so relevant in our pandemic times.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/29/sarah-moss-the-rhetoric-during-loc...

This sounds fab! But 131 pages - that‘s not a book 😁 very tempted still.
Out next week (U.K.)