Reviews with content warning for Violence - Islands of Mercy

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain

5 reviews

quillyreads's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It’s 1856, and Clorinda Morrisey leave behind Ireland to start a new life in bath. She sells an heirloom necklace to fund a new venture, a tea room, where she hopes the cream of society will gather amidst her cream tea and pastries. Clorinda is a warm and amiable character, and given how prominent she was at the start of the book you’d be forgiven for thinking she is the protagonist, and I’m actually a little disappointed we could not have a book with her at the very forefront.

The tea room is the focal point at the start, like a play we are introduced to Jane Adeane, a nurse, and her colleague Dr Valentine Ross who stages an awkward and unsuccessful proposal within the early pages. We also encounter Jane’s father, Sir William and as the book progresses witness the relationships of this core quarter evolve amidst their professional lives and spaces in the tea room and surgery at Bath.

Meanwhile Valentine’s brother Edmund arrives in Borneo to pursue botany and meets the immutable Sir Ralph Savage, self-appointed rajah and his beautiful but scheming lover, Leon.

I was engrossed early on by this book, with a clean writing style I found very easy to read and believably described the period, its people, and their aspirations and biases. It highlights issues and beliefs of the era, but in a way that feels mildly condemning without feeling like a modern derision. The cast is not your typical period piece, and the women especially are rich, independent characters that I find now I’ve finished I wish had more space and time within the pages.

I particularly loved Jane’s storyline with her aunt Emmeline in the art studio in London, and the lesbian love affair that blooms there, and the growing pressure to enter a conventional marriage with Valentine. The book pushes this storyline as its core plot point, however it is not the majority of the book given the various interweaving narratives. Meanwhile Valentine Ross goes through one of the most intense character arcs I have ever encountered, as I had a lot of sympathy for him in the beginning but as the story progressed felt such revulsion I actually struggled to get through his pages and it dampened the compelling Jane storyline.

While I found the book captivating and think it is the best example of parallel narrative I have ever read. I didn’t find any section a particular slog, however I wonder if the book would miss the Borneo sections if removed.

Overall, a slow but pleasant read. An engaging start but I did find the final sections a bit of a slog, except for the interlude in Ireland. Generally deft storytelling, with an interesting cast of characters.

Content Warnings