Thoughtful and affecting ... An engaging read, though Montague does herself no favors with a confusing beginning — the novel opens with a character who disappears for most of the book — and long-winded sentences that require more than one read.
Affecting ... The trip around the southland goes on rather too long, and Magda’s recessive inwardness is largely to blame. It lends the proceedings a sluggish, claustrophobic atmosphere.
Montague is such a gifted, sensitive and big-hearted writer that she can extend her imaginative sympathy even to Magda’s parents, whose strict Protestant religion taught them to revile this essential aspect of their daughter.
A noteworthy debut about looking back while moving forward. Friendship, love, regret, repression, grief, yearning, aging and new beginnings—Montague explores each of these themes with both creative and contemplative depth.
