But Absalom sees only a place untouched by God and flooded with a mighty and terrible evil, one he must root out at all costs. In Vardo, and in Maren, Ursa finds something she has never seen before: independent women. Summoned from Scotland to take control of a place at the edge of the civilized world, Absalom Cornet knows what he needs to do to bring the women of Vardo to heel. As Maren Magnusdatter watches, forty fishermen, including her father and brother, are lost to the waves, the menfolk of Vardo wiped out in an instant.Įighteen months later, a sinister figure arrives. On Christmas Eve, 1617, the sea around the remote Norwegian island of Vardo is thrown into a reckless storm. Allowing the prose to breathe more would allow for more light and shade, and tonal variation, which would also help with the pacing.Signed Exclusive Edition with exclusive endpapers, sprayed edges, and extra content. That Milwood Hargrave can turn a beautiful sentence isn’t in question, but future work would benefit from the more considered deployment of this talent.
Less description on a surface level and deeper characterisation would have provided greater scope for complexity in the narrative that would have elevated the novel. Whereas metaphorical language should offer deeper revelation, at times, it does read here as excessively ornamental where style is prioritised over substance.
The novel focuses on the pregnant Lisbeth, and the women closest to her, as the repercussions of this frenzy impact upon them in myriad ways as they are pushed to the limits of endurance.Īn award-winning poet, the author leans heavily into her poetic instincts on the page in order to produce rich prose that some readers will luxuriate in. Set in Strasbourg, in 1518, the fiction is inspired by a dancing plague which historical accounts suggest sent the city into a mania for three months of relentless dancing in the streets. Following in hot pursuit now is her second foray into historical fiction, The Dance Tree, and fans of the first will recognise much of what they enjoyed appearing in this sophomore work.
Perhaps still better known for her hugely popular children’s books, Milwood Hargrave’s debut for adults, The Mercies, was nonetheless an instant bestseller that scooped up several prestigious awards when it was published in 2020.
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