Synopsis: Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night. Whilst Marianne has had her share of men attracted to her because they want to rescue her, Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, and yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to 'show' her the stars?
I was uncertain when I started this book - was 'Emotional Geology' a one off? Was I being swept along by other people's enthusiasm? Was I being polite because the author is a fellow Bookcrosser? I'm glad to say that the answer to all three questions is a resounding 'no'.
Marianne is great - spiky, feisty, very human. I'm glad that she is not defined - or constrained - by her disability and that Keir treats her as a person, not some fragile object, to be pandered to or pitied because of her condition. Although I'm not blind, I have a (potentially) disabling condition of my own, and I've noticed that if the subject comes up and I say 'I have MS' the initial reaction and expression tends towards pity. After a while of course, no one notices or remembers and that's how I like it - and how I think Marianne likes it too :o)
Marianne's back story is tragic, but is not made into a melodrama - it is very realistically drawn. I remember Piper Alpha very clearly as my parents were in Aberdeen at the time, staying with my gran. They've talked a lot about the constant helicopter noise that night, transferring the dead and injured, and about how the disaster impacted on the city. Oil has brought a lot to Aberdeen, but we mustn't forget the cost...
Louisa and Garth provide some light relief in amongst the sadness (I wonder which writer of Gothic vampire novels Louisa is based on? It's obviously a lucrative genre to write in...LOL) but they aren't just there as comic relief - they are well rounded, believable characters in their own rights - and possibly far more patient with Marianne than I would have been at times :o)
And as for Keir - he's a great hero - kind, considerate, imaginative - but also stubborn, abrupt and imperfect. I thought the way that he 'shows' Marianne Skye was fantastic.
To write a book such as Star Gazing - written by a sighted writer who has to describe living as a blind person, especially one who is to be 'shown' landscape (and a landscape as spectacular as Skye!) and to incorporate a romance that readers will accept as suitable for a mainstream novel could be called ambitious. It is to Linda's great credit that she succeeds on all counts. An excellent novel!
Good points about this book: 1. the women aren't thin before they start 2. the good humoured nature of the book - they aren't taking things too seriously 3. the honesty and talking about why they over eat, and the effects that it has on their lives 4. the supportive nature of the authors, it's like having a friend talk to you 5. the exercises (mental) that support the diet plan 6. I picked it up cheap in a charity shop and have already sold it on GreenMetropolis :o)
Bad points about this book: 1. the diet.
The diet plan is a modified version of the Atkins diet, with no carbs at all for the first fortnight, and quite a restricted list of foods you can eat - so of course you're going to lose weight! The side effects are listed, and the authors seem to think it's okay to be in ketosis, rather than see it as a signal that your body is under stress! It would also be an expensive plan to follow - the authors blithely talk about steaks, cream and full fat cheese as if they are something everyone has in their fridge all the time...and if you're a vegetarian - forget it, unless you want to eat eggs and cheese 24/7. The plans aren't particularly helpful, with very few menu ideas.
Read it for the psychological insight into a "normal" woman's mind, but then go and eat plenty of fruit and veg and wholemeal grains, cut out the junk put the money you'll save into a fund for a trip to your favourite clothes shop or health spa.
Good points about this book: 1. the women aren't thin before they start 2. the good humoured nature of the book - they aren't taking things too seriously 3. the honesty and talking about why they over eat, and the effects that it has on their lives 4. the supportive nature of the authors, it's like having a friend talk to you 5. the exercises (mental) that support the diet plan 6. I picked it up cheap in a charity shop and have already sold it on GreenMetropolis :o)
Bad points about this book: 1. the diet.
The diet plan is a modified version of the Atkins diet, with no carbs at all for the first fortnight, and quite a restricted list of foods you can eat - so of course you're going to lose weight! The side effects are listed, and the authors seem to think it's okay to be in ketosis, rather than see it as a signal that your body is under stress! It would also be an expensive plan to follow - the authors blithely talk about steaks, cream and full fat cheese as if they are something everyone has in their fridge all the time...and if you're a vegetarian - forget it, unless you want to eat eggs and cheese 24/7. The plans aren't particularly helpful, with very few menu ideas.
Read it for the psychological insight into a "normal" woman's mind, but then go and eat plenty of fruit and veg and wholemeal grains, cut out the junk put the money you'll save into a fund for a trip to your favourite clothes shop or health spa.
