Thursday 1 October 2015

Leap the Wild Water by Jenny Lloyd

Reviewer: JW Hicks

What we thought: Leap the Wild Water is a harrowing story, told with honesty and truth allowing the reader insight into another age, an age not long past, when womenkind were regarded as Eve’s true daughters, bent on tempting men to sin.

Set in early in 19th century Wales, this tragic, yet uplifting story centres on Megan Jones, daughter to a viciously religious mother. Her once close younger brother, Morgan, is heavily influenced by his overbearing mother. Manipulated into following orders that deep down he knows are wrong, he is filled with regret. He accepts that what’s done cannot be undone, but the deed preys on his mind, casting a heavy shadow not only on his life, but that of his older sister. Too late he realises the evil he has done. He has chosen the primrose path, and knows just where that path leads.

The consequences of this cruel act is dramatically portrayed by the author in vivid exciting prose. This debut novel, inspired by her fascination for social psychology and the real-life struggles of women in her family’s past, is a grippingly tense read. Megan is a strong woman, wanting freedom in a society of denial and discrimination, a freedom denied by the very fact that she is female.

Historically accurate, strongly written this is a book that needs to be read and treasured.

You’ll enjoy this if you like: Hardy, Dickens and Wilkie Collins

Avoid if you don’t like: Heart-stopping tension and utter involvement in characters and plot

Ideal accompaniments: A slice of bara brith and Glengetti tea sipped from a bone china cup.

Genre: Literary fiction. Historical

Available from Amazon

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