Book review : The Woman Behind the Waterfall
The Woman Behind the Waterfall
The novel spans the life of three generation of women from a
family, the Mother, daughter and granddaughter, who are caught in the vortex of
their daily lives and a strain of mysticism that engulfs the women. The novel
adopts a multiperspective narrative that is at once beautiful and intriguing.
Lyuda, in her teenage passion s begotten with a child and her dreams of spending
her life with her love is shattered as he pulls back weighed down by family struggles
and fear. The language is, in itself a work of art that embodies in it the
touches of magical realism that he author has so very brilliantly mad use
of. The connection that the three women
share with nature is similar to the one of an eco-feminist perspective, where
the link is so strong that at times they are themselves an element in nature as
such. Lyuda earns for a transformation or an alternative life that she has so
wistfully yearned for in her past. That transformation and alternative life are
made possible through and by her daughter and once again she is stuck in the
indecision of which to choose. The work is a symbolism of ordinary life of
women who gets split up from her parents with marriage and once again her
relation with her husband cannot be focussed upon with a child to look after.
All these relations are, but, only transient compared to the long deep
connection that enables a woman to be a part of nature, as pure and pristine as
nature can be. This philosophy is deeply dealt with in the book where the
transformation undergone by Angela, the granddaughter is mesmerising and fantastical.
The narrow line that skilfully divides the novel from being a fantasy fiction
and enrolling it along the magical-realism line is the vivid portrayal of life
an reality that, like splashing cold water keeps on pulling us back into the
dreamy cocoon woven by the exquisite details portrayed in a broken, yet lavish
depiction by the author. The novel, because if its style and the theme it deals
with struck me almost instantly to share a place in my heart with the Paulo
Coelho book, The Witch of Portobello. Immensely beautiful and subtly magical,
this book was a pleasant read, instilling memories in me that wasn’t my own,
and driving my attention towards the little, enchanting details around me that
could have been heavily indulging, have i let myself be absorbed into it like
Angela. There was only more gained and an encouragement to sharpen my senses to
truly savour the beauty and life around me that i have received from this book,
apart from the well knit story in an irresistibly beautiful language.
Heartbreak
and transformation in the beauty of a Ukrainian village.
For
seven-year old Angela, happiness is exploring the lush countryside around her
home in western Ukraine. Her wild imagination takes her into birds and flowers,
and into the waters of the river.
All
that changes when, one morning, she sees her mother crying. As she tries to
find out why, she is drawn on an extraordinary journey into the secrets of her
family, and her mother's fateful choices.
Can
Angela lead her mother back to happiness before her innocence is destroyed by
the shadows of a dark past?
Beautiful,
poetic and richly sensory, this is a tale that will haunt and lift its readers.
Reviews for The Woman Behind the
Waterfall
“Readers looking for a
classic tale of love and loss will be rewarded with an intoxicating world” ~~ Kirkus Reviews
“The language is lyrical and
poetic and, in places, begs to be read repeatedly for the sheer joy of it… A
literary work of art.” ~~ Fiona Adams,
The Richmond Magazine
“Rich and poetic in detail,
it is an often dreamy, oneiric narrative rooted in an exaltation of nature… A
lovely novel.” ~~ IndieReader
About the Author
Leonora
Meriel grew up in London and studied literature at the University of Edinburgh
in Scotland and Queen’s University in Canada. She worked at the United Nations
in New York, and then for a multinational law firm.
In
2003 she moved from New York to Kyiv, where she founded and managed Ukraine’s
largest Internet company. She studied at Kyiv Mohyla Business School and earned
an MBA, which included a study trip around China and Taiwan, and climbing to
the top of Hoverla, Ukraine’s highest peak and part of the Carpathian
Mountains. She also served as President of the International Women’s Club of
Kyiv, a major local charity.
During
her years in Ukraine, she learned to speak Ukrainian and Russian, witnessed two
revolutions and got to know an extraordinary country at a key period of its
development.
In
2008, she decided to return to her dream of being a writer, and to dedicate her
career to literature. In 2011, she completed The Woman Behind the Waterfall,
set in a village in western Ukraine. While her first novel was with a London
agent, Leonora completed her second novel The Unity Game, set in New York City
and on a distant planet.
Leonora
currently lives in Barcelona and London and has two children. She is working on
her third novel.
Comments
Post a Comment