Hardback by Tinder Press,£16.99 (ebook £3.99)
If the name Sarah Winman rings a bell, it will
be because of her phenomenally successful
debut, When God Was A Rabbit, published in
2010. So this follow-up has been long
anticipated – and it is with some relief I can
say it lives up to expectations.
In 1947 Cornwall, Marvellous (an 89-year-old
woman) is waiting – “not for death, as you
might assume”, but for something she senses is
coming. This is the first hint of the magical
realism that pervades the novel – we later
hear of Marvellous’ mermaid mother, and (a
personal favourite) of Peace, who bakes loaves
in which you can taste her moods. Though just
the phrase ‘magical realism’ is enough to put
some off, here it works: there is a real
grounding in reality, the stories are
touching, but the twist lent by these quirks
lends a joyful, fairytale element (complete
with a trip to the woods).
When the ‘something’ Marvellous has been
waiting for arrives, it is in the form of
Francis Drake: a young soldier returning from
war to deliver a crucial letter, who finds and
loses his love. In Francis, Marvellous
recognises a broken young man, so sets out to
heal him using stories, telling the tales of
the three loves of her life in a poetic and
deeply moving way, the present peppered with
stories of the past.
The only real downside to this novel is the,
at times, disorientating way it’s told. No
speech marks, and a somewhat experimental form
can take some getting used to, and though this
meandering style suits the story, it can
become distracting. Style aside, this is
ultimately a lavish and clever read which will
stand the test of time – Marvellous is a
character you will want to spend time with.