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#islandlife
review
ImperfectCJ
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Pickpick

There are a surprising number of books with this title. This one is quiet with a pace both leisurely and conveying urgency, echoing the collision of the way time is reckoned on the mainland with the way it runs on the island. Overall, I enjoyed this novel and was glad to have the audiobook to help me with the Welsh pronunciations. In the end, it left me wanting, which is apt but unsatisfying.

review
Kazzie
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
Pickpick

Wonderful. Sparse sensitive writing. Historical fiction at its best makes the characters real and come alive. The protagonist learns about the trickery of strangers. I can see the straightforward ease of rural life, not for the work, but for the familiarity of the people

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rmaclean4
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Pickpick

A quiet lyrical novel set on an island off the coast of Wales right before WWII. Beautiful writing. 3.5 🌟

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Kitta
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An atmospheric novel (similar to #campitsy24 pick Clear) about a community living on an island off the coast of Wales where a whale beaches itself one day.

Narrated by Manod, an 18 year old woman living with her father and sister, it describes island life and the slow disappearance of their culture as younger individuals leave for work on the mainland.

Set in the backdrop of pre-WW II this was a fairly quick and interesting read.

review
TheKidUpstairs
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Pickpick

A solid debut, O'Connor writes beautifully and confronts issues with a delicate touch. Wonderfully crafted sentences and imagery give a tactile sense of place, and themes of duty to self vs family and community and the problematic nature of anthropological study and bias are deftly handled. The characters and emotional depth unfortunately don't reach the same standard, but it is still a worthy read and I'm excited to see what O'Connor writes next.

TheKidUpstairs So hard not to compare this to Audrey Magee's The Colony, I think I would have liked this one more had I read it first! Which is not to say I didn't like it, because I quite enjoyed reading it, but I'm glad I borrowed it rather than buying a copy. 5mo
squirrelbrain Great review - I concur! 🙂 5mo
68 likes3 comments
blurb
Tamra
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Quick trip out to Sturgis, South Dakota to visit my dad. Mitzi‘s Books in Rapid City is a nicely curated shop.

Ruthiella Nice! 👍 5mo
Tamra @Ruthiella I think this is going to be a great read! 🤞🏾 (edited) 5mo
59 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
TheKidUpstairs
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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"The whale became stranded in the shallows of the island overnight, appearing from the water like a cat slinking under a door."

56 likes2 stack adds
review
Hooked_on_books
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Pickpick

As the drumbeats of an impending WWII are sounding, a way of life is gradually dying on a tiny Welsh island. A dead whale washes up there, a metaphor for island life, while English anthropologist types arrive to write about the people, only twisted in a way they find interesting. I liked but didn‘t love this.

53 likes2 stack adds
review
LiteraryHoarderPenny
Whale Fall | ELIZABETH. O'CONNOR
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Pickpick

3.5 🌟