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ClareR (5603 KP) rated Wandering Souls in Books

Mar 25, 2023  
Wandering Souls
Wandering Souls
Cecile Pin | 2023 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Since reading Wandering Souls on The Pigeonhole, it has made it on to the Women’s Prize long list. And well-deserved it is too.

This is the story of a family who make it by boat to Hong Kong from Vietnam. At least Anh and her two brothers do. Their parents and younger siblings come after them and drown.

This is Anh’s story, and how she copes on their journey from Vietnam to Hong Kong, and then on to London where they settle permanently. It’s a story of loss, life-long trauma and the struggle to find security and happiness. It brought home the continuing issues of refugees - particularly those who take the dangerous route of the sea. It always makes me think of these lines from Warsan Shire’s “Home”:
“You have to understand that no one puts children in a boat
Unless the water is safer than the land”
Anh and her family want a better life than that of poverty, war and political oppression.

This is a dark story and the experiences have such a huge effect on every aspect of Anh and her brothers lives, and you can still see this in the interactions that Anh has with her own children.

It’s a wonderful book, and well worth reading. I’ve learnt so much about the Vietnamese people who resettled in the UK and their journeys here.

I wouldn’t be at all disappointed to see this make the short list.
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Mar 1, 2023  
Sneak a peek at the romantic suspense mystery novel COPPER WATERS by Marlene M Bell, Author on my blog, and enter the amazing #giveaway for a chance to #win a signed ARC paperback of the book; a leather bucket bag; a 100% New Zealand gray wool throw; a Hagestad hammered water bottle; a Lucy Pittaway notebook; and a $50 VISA gift card!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2023/03/reviewapalooza-and-giveaway-copper.html

**ABOUT THE BOOK**
A rural New Zealand vacation turns poisonous.

Antiquities expert Annalisse Drury and tycoon Alec Zavos are at an impasse in their relationship when Alec refuses to clear up a paternity issue with an ex-lover.

Frustrated with his avoidance when their future is at stake, Annalisse accepts an invitation from an acquaintance to fly to New Zealand—hoping to escape the recent turbulence in her life.

But even Annalisse’s cottage idyll on the family sheep farm isn’t immune to intrigue.

Alec sends a mutual friend and detective, Bill Drake, to follow her, and a local resident who accompanies them from the Christchurch airport dies mysteriously soon after. A second violent death finds Annalisse and Bill at odds with the official investigations.

The local police want to close both cases as quickly as possible—without unearthing the town’s dirty secrets.

As she and Bill pursue their own leads at serious cost, the dual mysteries force Annalisse to question everything she thought she knew about family ties, politics, and the art of small-town betrayal.