Untying the Knot is a Kindle book, my first since I bought the Kindle, and though I'm not excited about the Kindle, I'm very excited about the book. Full disclosure here: although we have never met in person, I consider Linda Gillard a "virtual" friend and I have enjoyed all of her previous books set in Scotland, her home, so I bought this one fully expecting to be just as pleased with it. I was right.
Gillard has a talent for creating fully realized characters that the reader comes to care about very much. In this book the main characters are Fay and Magnus Gillivray. They have been divorced for five years but have never stopped loving each other. Now their daughter is engaged to a man who presents an awkward situation for Fay, and Fay and Magnus are united in their determination to make her wedding and marriage happy and fulfilling.
Another aspect of Gillard's books is that there is always a physical or mental handicap to muddy the waters so to speak. In this case, Fay is emotionally fragile and Magnus suffers from severe PTSD as a result of his service where his job was to disarm bombs. In Londonderry, in fact, he had been nearly blown to pieces by an IRA bomb. He occasionally becomes violent, other times frightened; he is startled into these mental lapses by loud noises, dreams, and other triggers.
As in her other books, Gillard lets us in on the inner turmoil of the characters and there is a fine plot to keep us turning pages. She understands the complex thinking and motivations of her characters. A very satisfying read in all, and I recommend it highly.
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I like Linda Gillard's novels too. The characters are people I remember for a long time. These two new characters sound very interesting. I'm glad to know it's on Kindle. I'll have to get over there and get it.
ReplyDeleteP.S. If there is any way I can help you with your Kindle, I will. I love mine. It's so much easier for me to read with the big print. Let me know how I can help.
I'm glad I have my Kindle, but I'm not switching to it full-time, for sure. It has its benefits, but my. oh. my. I do love the feel of a paper book in my hands.
ReplyDeleteDid you see this??
ReplyDeletehttp://preferreading.blogspot.com/2011/09/untying-knot-linda-gillard.html
It was the first time I'd heard of her, and isn't that the way. You hear or read something new and then see it again! Great review. I've never read her work, but def want to check her out. As for my K. I like it for the ease at bedtime, but that's it. I never bring it downstairs. Down here it's all about my print books. :<)
You persuaded me to buy "House of Silence", and between you, I wonder if you and Linda haven´t sold this one to me also ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barbara, for your great review. I'm so pleased you enjoyed UNTYING THE KNOT. :-)
ReplyDeleteI have never read Linda Gillard - I'm not sure if I'd like this one, as I tend to prefer genre novels, but the characters sound very interesting.
ReplyDeleteSo, this is set in Northern Ireland? We visited there recently and I've become very fascinated with The Troubles. I'll have to look for this book.
ReplyDeleteYou will fall in love with the Kindle (I felt like you at first). Now with FREE library downloads so simple. its awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of your comments. I'm sure you'll like this novel, but Kathy, it's set in Scotland rather than Ireland. So glad many of you are finding out about Linda and not just from my blog.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Kindle. I haven't touched it since I finished Untying the Knot, but in my defense I have a stack of ARC's to read and review before I can even think about going to the library or investigating free stuff on the Kindle.