Herring Girl

by Debbie Taylor

Herring Girl

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Crime, Historical

480 pages, Paperback

First published August 7, 2014

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

What made me want to read Herring Girl is that I had read Annabel by Kathleen Winter. Herring Girl by Debbie Taylor is a wonderful long novel. Twelve-year-old Ben has always felt that he was born into the wrong body. He kept his secret away from his dad as he did not know how his dad would cope. Ben kept at hidden in his wardrobe an old bag where he keeps his make-up and nail varnish. Ben sees a therapist that suggests hypnosis as a way to help him understand why he doesn't identify as a boy. This is a story about a investigating past lives. I really recommend reading Herring Girl.

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

didn't want this book to end. I got totally engrossed in this story. kept me guessing for a while too.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this enthralling book from the first to the last page. I can't quite bring myself to award 5 stars, as I almost never do this, but it deserves a good 4.5.

We have an eclectic cast of characters, from a 12 year old boy who wants to be a girl, to a reincarnation believing therapist and a warm hearted transvestite. I love reading anything that hints at there being a world beyond out immediate lives and whilst this novel cannot be scientific with its subject matter, it still provides arguments for and against reincarnation and provoked me to think about the subject in more detail.

The plot itself is a murder mystery when you take it down to fundamentals, but it has been written in a way that is totally unique to anything I've read before. The writing itself is good and the author appears to have done extensive research into the dialect used at present and historically in the region as well as the the way lives were lived there at the end of the 19th century. The characters are well drawn and the writing flows.

If I was being ultra picky then it could be said that things were a bit too"neat" in the resolution of the plot, but I'm not going to give anything more away as I think this is a cracking good read and well worth the time spent on the 465 pages.

I've noted a previous reviewing feeling that this would be a good novel for a book club and I completely agree with this - there is plenty to talk about!

[Jorgelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked most of the book, specially the picture painted when the characters were talking as their past lives.
**** Contains spoilers ****












However, towards the end of the book I became very angry. At Ian, such a horrible person, so selfish. And Paul, Ben's dad, I just hated that he couldn't understand and accept Ben and what he was going through, and even wishing to ruin Ben's therapist.

The end...well...upset wouldn't cover it. I do understand that the subject is not easily proven and that this was fiction but why did Ben have die? Why was so hard to decide between him being "cured" or just turning into a woman after going through treatment?
Did Mary realise that Mr Skipper was her Peggy's son? Where was Ben's mom at the funeral?
I get it, the pregnant woman is probably carrying future Ben and his issues, but...no...I wanted Ben to have a better life.

[Marie (UK) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this had a really unusual narrative line to examine the past in the fishing industry of the North East of England. Using the idea of reincarnation and present lives reflecting something that was perhaps undeveloped in a former life the book focuses on Ben a young boy who struggles with his sexuality. He is introduced to a psychotherapist who specialises in examining past lives through hypnotism. The cast of characters expands to include both Ben's family and friends and TV production. My only criticism was that at times it felt a bit unrealistic as everyone's past personalities arise.

[Harri · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible representation of trans people, to the point of being transphobic. Brilliantly researched in terms of dialect, I only wish the same effort had gone into researching the lives, thoughts and feelings of trans and gender variant people.

[Lanen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't quite suspend my disbelief for this novel but for some reason I kept reading.

[Thomas Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of feel I’m being unfair to this book, but I can’t help but knock off a fifth star due to it not meeting it’s own promise.

The story is set up with Ben, a 12 year old boy with gender dysmorphia who’s desperate for a sex change before puberty sets in. Learning he has to have a psychological assessment he starts visiting a local doctor who leads him into past-live regression. Together they uncover the mystery of Anne, a young girl who went missing at the turn of the previous century and may have been Ben’s previous life.

As it goes on it explore the idea of reincarnation and group reincarnation, weaving it together with a compelling story and truly beautiful writing. I always take gushing cover quotes with a pinch of salt, but Taylor’s writing is so beautifully researched and realised that it’s impossible not to find yourself immersed in the world of an 1890s fishing town. The passion behind it shines through. I’ve never read a historical novel that managed to recreate the past this well.

But once we get going, the gender dysmorphia idea it hardly ever mentioned again. I thought from the opening that this was something that I was going to be really interested in, and was eager to see how well the author had looked into that world. But it just falls by the wayside in favour of the reincarnation murder mystery. Which is good, don’t get me wrong, but just left me feeling a little disappointed.

I also felt that in the middle section the ease at which all the reincarnation and past life regression therapy fell into place felt a little too simplistic. At times it simply felt like anyone can recall their past lives with little problem, and the only issue with that people choose not to believe. It has a lot of similar ideas and themes as the Devery series, but where as in a fantasy setting it’s easier to take outlandish ideas at face value in a real-world setting I was expecting a little less ease.

It definitely picks up again towards the end, and the climax is astoundingly well written and wraps up the story perfectly. But such an intriguing opening and such a emotionally devastating ending, I just felt that the middle coasted along a little too much.

I still feel I’m being unfair not giving this one 5-stars, but I just can’t quite bring myself to do so.

[Mandy Cleworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!! Something completely different to the books I am normally drawn to. The subject matter is unusual to say the least, and regardless of whether or not you believe in reincarnation (this is after all a work of fiction), it was great how the lives and events were all cleverly knitted together. I was really drawn in as the characters became clearer but the mystery deepened. I could go into lots of detail, but I think that would spoil it, so just read it, you won't regret it

[Mags · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the idea of the book but struggled with the actual read, gripping at times and then totally boring. It was too long going down lots of alleyways, but main problem was I just didn't take to the 2007 characters, and hated the ending for the 2007 part of the story, nothing resolved. Disappointing.

[helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficult to review it without giving spoilers . Although it’s long and I had a hardback copy I have stayed up late wanting to find out the ending . A great read which I will recommend to friends. All the characters in their reincarnations are plausible as is the dialogue but as others have said a glossary of dialect words would have helped .

[Maryanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous. Loved the historical mystery, the past-lives context, the characters, the sea setting...a few scenes of violence very visceral.

[Kayleigh Goodyear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It was very different and made a nice change to read something thats a bit different

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still thinking about its many strands.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your Reading Group is looking for a read that will divide opinions and get people talking, then this is one I would recommend.

Ben is a troubled boy, he feels like his body's a coat that belongs to someone else. He has been buying girl's clothes for weeks in readiness for his first outing, hiding them from his Da, a no-nonsense deep sea fisherman who thinks that he's got over all that 'Annie business'.

Mary, a psychotherapist who believes in the soul and that souls could be reincarnated in groups through the years, thinks she can help Ben.

During the hypnosis session, Ben becomes sixteen year old herring girl Annie living in North Shields in 1898 describing her life, her friends, her family and her secret young man, Sam, in startling detail. But when Ben wakes up from his trances at dramatic moments in Annie's life, it starts to become clear that young Annie was murdered. But by whom?

I loved these glimpses into Annie's life, I could almost smell the 'sea smells and fish stink and lum smoke, and bread from the bakery and frying bacon bits and herring' .... it was so realistic (or as realistic as I imagined it would be then!)

Mary wants to prove the theory that certain communities of souls may seek one another out repeatedly, over and over, at different times and she persuades several people, friends, an ex-boyfriend who wants to make a BBC documentary about her work, even Ben's father to undergo regression, with amazing results. I did find this very coincidental and how lucky was Mary that so many people would agree to be hypnotised?!

This is not just a story of past lives, it is also a story of a long forgotten era when 'Scots lasses' would travel down the east coast following the herring fleet, and what a harsh and hard job it was, 'gipping' the herring in all weathers on the quayside. Debbie Taylor's meticulous research brings all this, and more, to life.

An enthralling read, full of colourful characters, both in the present and the past. I'm still thinking about some of those characters now, and I'll think they'll stay with me for a long time yet.

Taken from my blog Carole's Book Corner

[Michelle Ryles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a write up about this book in one of those free supermarket magazines a while ago and thought the reincarnation story sounded really interesting. I added it to my wishlist then spotted it in the library so snatched it off the shelf and rushed to the desk, picking up another book along the way!

Unfortunately it was the hardback edition of the book so I found it a bit cumbersome to read for long periods but I did thoroughly enjoy the story. There are a lot of issues covered in the book including homophobia, trans-gender operations, broken families and past lives. Ben is a lovely young boy but he believes he should be a girl and feels trapped in his body, but perhaps it is his previous incarnation, Annie, who is trapped inside his body and trying to get her story heard. Ben's mother has moved to New Zealand to start a new life and a new family, so Ben lives with his Dad who is most definitely a man's man and can't understand what Ben is going through.

Ben looks for support elsewhere and finds Laura, who runs the local cafe and Dr Mary Charlton who hypnotises him to extract Annie's story. I absolutely loved Annie's story, although sometimes I found the language hard to understand and I am from this area! I have no doubt it was authentic local dialect but I think perhaps a glossary in the back might have assisted some readers.

The whole subject matter was fascinating to me - not just reincarnation but the possibility that groups of souls reincarnate and find each other in their next life. I loved the way the book was written from both Ben's and Annie's perspectives with both stories bringing tears to my eyes.

Wonderfully researched, with a host of fascinating characters spread across the decades, this is a book that is well worth reading.

[Anne Goodwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it difficult to accept this novel on its own terms but, when I did, I found a lot to savour. Moving back and forth between the busy fishing port of 1898, and the same location over a century later, Ben seems to blossom as Mary helps him get acquainted with Annie. Yet as her story of friendship, first love and the mystery of her death develops, other characters from the present day find their previous incarnations implicated in her tale. When Mary’s former lover turns up and convinces her and her friends to let him film their investigations for a TV documentary, the tension builds with their suspicion that Annie’s murderer might be one of the adults on whom Ben now depends.
Full review http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...

[Ursula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed everything about this book.

I loved the diverse characters - "eccentric" isn't right, but it would be hard to get a more unusual group of polar personalities together, and still have it feel natural. I loved the "voices" that they spoke in, the insight that they gave the reader into the their own perceptions of their motivations - their self-awarenesses and blind-spots.

I loved the writing. I enjoyed the words on the page without being distracted by them.

I loved the plot, and how the dialogue and descriptions carried me forward. The story jumps back and forth in time, and whether or not you believe in reincarnation, as a plot device it was completely compelling.

I'm am writing this review because I'm not ready to let go of this story, or the people who make it.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this one.

I loved the fascinating historical details and descriptions of North Tyneside past and present, and enjoyed the sections set at the end of the last century, altho for me the dialect didn't come thru particularly well.

I found the modern day parts were less effective - some of the voices, as with the historical ones, didn't work well (why was Mary seemingly incapable of speaking in anything other than "doctor-speak", regardless of the situation?), and as the reincarnation theme expanded my engagement waned. It's a very long book, but I did keep going happily enough, which is not always the case with long books.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway.

Herring Girl was a wonderful read. I was so enthralled by the characters, their connections, the various writing styles, the sights, sounds and smells of the surroundings...
This book kept me very much intrigued the entire read through, and I kept on thinking how this could be such a fascinating movie!
Debbie Taylor did a wonderful job representing the varying eras and the different feelings and beliefs that were prevalent during different decades and centuries.
I would certainly recommend this to my friends!

[Rachael Lutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating book! I loved the idea of past lives explaining why the characters were the way we were. I'm still not sure I loved the ended, and I considered giving it 4 stars instead for that reason, but I suppose it kept with the theme of the book. Even though it was a decent size book, almost 500 pages, I was interested from start to finish and I loved the way Annie's story unfolded slowly throughout the book.

[Jennifer Mimno · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had its moments, but ultimately I felt it dragged, especially towards the end with lots of dialogue. The parts in the 19th century were much more compelling. I'm not sure if I like the idea of spending each reincarnation with the same souls over and over again. I would have preferred a focus on Ben and his story only.

[Ann J.]

Intriguing read

This work of fiction builds to a surprising climax and will keep you reading into the night. Plus it contains information about past lives, reincarnation, and karma. Seeded throughout there are pearls of wisdom about life. Long story but very thought-provoking and worth reading.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, I loved how the stories intertwined between 1898 and 2007. The story of Ben, but more importantly also that of Annie, a young 'herring girl'. The book is set in Tyneside and having visited family members in the North East I could very clearly hear the characters speaking in their dialect. As the stories unfold so many lives become entwined.

[Savina King · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I am very interested in buddhism and interested in incarnation I found this book a joy to read. Occasionaly a glossary of South Sheilds vocabulary would have helped, but it did n't slow the story down for me. Really good story line and will enjoy any books she writes after this. Can't wait.

[Peter Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Howay !! Reet good.

[Lynsey Easton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling read.

[Jessica Levitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the story had just taken place with the characters in the 19th century. The present day story started to drag on, and Ian and his film became annoying.

[Marina]

interesting theory.

[Jenny Buntrock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting plot but a very long and slow read.