Tuesday 15 October 2013

Every Eye- Isobel English


Beautifully written in a poetic style, Every Eye is a rich book full of imagery.  However, I found it hard to read in long stints as it was quite verbose- a lot was packed into a short book. 

Every Eye is the overlap of two stories, Hatty on her Ibiza honeymoon with her younger husband and a story from the past.  As Hatty looks back on her life and reflects, the reader learns how the past is affecting her in the present day.

I'm not entirely sure that I understood it properly, and would benefit from another reading to fully understand the complexities of the plot.  However, I didn't warm to Hatty or her husband Stephen throughout the book and am not sure whether I will ever reread Every Eye.  I will seek out further writings by Isobel English though, as reading her work reminded me of the first overpowering hit when gulping mulled wine- powerful, with a long lasting impact.  Her writing made me want to read chunks out loud, to taste them in my mouth.

This wouldn't be a Persephone book I would particularly recommend, but the writing style was eloquent and impactive.

6/10 (Beautiful tone of writing, but marks lost as the plot had me confused).

No comments:

Post a Comment