Somewhere More Simple

I’m often whinging about books being given too good a rap by publishers and critics, but this is the opposite case; Marion Molteno is an exceptionally good writer, and yet most of her books are out of print, and this, her latest, was stuck up on a back shelf and not even put with “new arrivals” in the store. She reminds me of Melina Marchetta, because her books are all about character, and there’s something so intimate about the writing – you feel as though it’s been written by someone you know.

Cari decides to take a maternity leave locum on a small island off Cornwall – an island where she spent an idyllic summer as a child. Her boring husband agrees, and they settle there, meeting the locals including Anna, a bereft mother, and Hugh, a local farmer whose wife has left with their son. Cari and Hugh fall in love, and she has to choose between him and her husband; Anna has to get over blaming others for her grief; and Hugh has to deal with his own control issues. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s filled with a kind of beauty which really is simple, and really is human. I have to say I didn’t truly buy the Hugh-Cari relationship, because it seemed more a vehicle for them both to deal with their issues rather than an issue itself, but apart from that I loved it, I really did.