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Ripeness by Sarah Moss was a pure pleasure to listen to. Flora Montgomery breathed life into the character of Edith and her memories of the year she turned 17 in 1967. This was the year that Edith’s mother sent her to Italy to help her older sister (a ballerina) as she prepared for the birth of her illegitimate child. Edith is most definitely a fish out of water - she has never been around her sisters friends before, and it’s a sad experience for both her and her sister.
Alongside the 1967 timeline is that of the modern day and the reason why Edith’s memories of that summer have been triggered. Edith now lives in Ireland, in her 70’s and happily divorced. She has her friends, a lover and her own space. Her best friend, Maebh, has been contacted by an American who claims to be her brother. A brother her mother had out of wedlock, and therefore put up for adoption. After many years of searching, he has found Maebh, and she must now decide if she wants to see him at all. She asks Edith to help her to decide.
There’s a melancholy air to this story that really appealed to me. I always enjoy Sarah Moss books, and I know that I’m diving in to a beautifully written novel every time. This is no exception. The themes of family, belonging and identity are ones I often look for in a book, and the descriptions of nature in both Italy and Ireland were the bits in between that really fleshed the book out for me. The thought of her now grown up nephew coming across Edith’s written down record of where he began (because that is what this actually is) was both touching and reassuring and, bearing in mind how he was really conceived, moving.
I know I’m going to enjoy a Sarah Moss novel before I’ve even opened to the front page (or in this case, pressed ‘play’), and I wasn’t disappointed at all with Ripeness. An exquisite novel.
Alongside the 1967 timeline is that of the modern day and the reason why Edith’s memories of that summer have been triggered. Edith now lives in Ireland, in her 70’s and happily divorced. She has her friends, a lover and her own space. Her best friend, Maebh, has been contacted by an American who claims to be her brother. A brother her mother had out of wedlock, and therefore put up for adoption. After many years of searching, he has found Maebh, and she must now decide if she wants to see him at all. She asks Edith to help her to decide.
There’s a melancholy air to this story that really appealed to me. I always enjoy Sarah Moss books, and I know that I’m diving in to a beautifully written novel every time. This is no exception. The themes of family, belonging and identity are ones I often look for in a book, and the descriptions of nature in both Italy and Ireland were the bits in between that really fleshed the book out for me. The thought of her now grown up nephew coming across Edith’s written down record of where he began (because that is what this actually is) was both touching and reassuring and, bearing in mind how he was really conceived, moving.
I know I’m going to enjoy a Sarah Moss novel before I’ve even opened to the front page (or in this case, pressed ‘play’), and I wasn’t disappointed at all with Ripeness. An exquisite novel.