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Il nostro riparo
Per Maggie e Jenny la vita sembra quasi perfetta. Le giornate sono scandite da giri in bicicletta ed escursioni nella natura selvaggia, da ripari costruiti con rami di pino e racconti ascoltati accanto al fuoco nella loro piccola casa in legno, insieme all'adorato papà e alla mamma impavida e premurosa. Quasi ogni sera Maggie - inquieta e preoccupata che qualcosa possa incrinare quella felicità - conta le lentiggini sulle braccia del padre e ascolta le risate della madre. Un giorno le sue paure più cupe si trasformano in realtà: il padre muore in un incidente sul lavoro nei boschi e qualche mese dopo la madre lascia lei e sua sorella a casa di conoscenti promettendo loro che tornerà. Ma i giorni diventano settimane, le settimane mesi e i mesi anni. Frances Greenslade ci porta nella vita di due ragazzine dalla forza straordinaria cogliendo il brusco passaggio dal mondo pacifico e selvaggio in cui sono cresciute in totale libertà a un mondo sconosciuto e pieno di insidie in cui vengono scaraventate. Commovente e lieve allo stesso tempo, "Il nostro riparo" celebra l'amore tra sorelle, i complicati legami famigliari e la responsabilità di una donna verso se stessa e le persone che ama.
364 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
42 people are currently reading
2529 people want to read
About the author
Frances Greenslade
8 books62 followersFollow me on Instagram @franciegreenslade
I was born in the Niagara Peninsula and grew up playing in the orchards and vineyards around our family's farm. I can remember climbing under the thickest cover of grape vines to read and write stories in the long grass there. At about age 11, when we moved to Winnipeg, I wrote my first novel, on a desk made of boards, in the crawlspace of our house. The story involved an attic, a girl and a mystery.
Red Fox Road, a novel for middle grade readers, was written to the girl in the crawlspace, writing her book in a Hilroy scribbler. A story of resilience and survival, Red Fox Road is about thirteen-year-old Francie (of course!) who is stranded alone on a remote road in the Oregon wilderness after the family's truck breaks down.
The survival story is one of my favourite genres, especially ones featuring girls and women.
I'm also fascinated with the idea of home and shelter and how our mothers are our first "home." Lost mothers and relationships with mothers are themes that resonate through all of my books.
My first two books are A Pilgrim in Ireland and By the Secret Ladder, both non-fiction memoirs.
Shelter is a novel about two sisters whose mother suddenly leaves them to billet with a family friend in a small BC town, telling them she's going to cook in a logging camp and then doesn't return.
https://www.instagram.com/franciegree...
I was born in the Niagara Peninsula and grew up playing in the orchards and vineyards around our family's farm. I can remember climbing under the thickest cover of grape vines to read and write stories in the long grass there. At about age 11, when we moved to Winnipeg, I wrote my first novel, on a desk made of boards, in the crawlspace of our house. The story involved an attic, a girl and a mystery.
Red Fox Road, a novel for middle grade readers, was written to the girl in the crawlspace, writing her book in a Hilroy scribbler. A story of resilience and survival, Red Fox Road is about thirteen-year-old Francie (of course!) who is stranded alone on a remote road in the Oregon wilderness after the family's truck breaks down.
The survival story is one of my favourite genres, especially ones featuring girls and women.
I'm also fascinated with the idea of home and shelter and how our mothers are our first "home." Lost mothers and relationships with mothers are themes that resonate through all of my books.
My first two books are A Pilgrim in Ireland and By the Secret Ladder, both non-fiction memoirs.
Shelter is a novel about two sisters whose mother suddenly leaves them to billet with a family friend in a small BC town, telling them she's going to cook in a logging camp and then doesn't return.
https://www.instagram.com/franciegree...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 361 reviews
May 30, 2012
Forty years ago, two sisters were growing up, in a small town, set in the wild countryside of British Columbia. Maggie and Jenny Dillon lived in an unfinished cabin home with their quiet reliable father, Patrick, and their imaginative, free-spirited mother, Irene. A happy family.
Maggie tells their story. And she tells it beautifully. Her voice rang true and she made me see her world, her sister, her father, her mother. I understood how the family relationships worked, I understood what was important to them. And I saw enough to understand one or two things that Maggie didn’t
She was a tomboy, always at her father’s side. He took her out into the country and he taught her how to build shelters, how to make fires, how to live off the land. Everything that she might need to know to survive in the world.
But he didn’t tell her how to survive without him, and when he died in a logging accident his family was stricken.
And then Irene told her daughters that she needed to go away, to take seasonal work to earn the money that they needed to survive. She left them in the care of a childless couple, a couple that Maggie and Jenny had never met. Old friends, good people, she told them.
Maggie and Jenny struggle. Their new home is different from everything that have known before. And when Irene stops writing, when she stops sending money, things become even more difficult.
It was fascinating to watch the characters and their evolving relationships. The girls’ guardians were good people, but they were left in a very difficult position, coping with teenage girls who had started their lives in a very different home with very different values.
The world doesn’t stand still; things changed, and Maggie and Jenny needed their mother to guide them. But she didn’t come back.
In the end, when things became too much, Maggie realised that it was time to use the skills that her father had taught her. She set off to find her mother.
She headed back to her childhood home. She visited old friends and neighbours. And she learned more about her mother, and about what had become of her.
Shelter tells a wonderful story.
It moved slowly, but that was all to the good. It gave the characters and the relationships, all so perfectly drawn, room to shine. It made me think about so many different ways that the relationships between mothers, daughters, sisters can work. And it made me fall in love with an environment that was so vividly described.
I understood. I cared. And I was pulled into a world and a story that was quite perfectly realised.
Every scene played out exactly as it should.
And the ending was exactly right. The only possible ending. And it made me realise that I was completely emotionally engaged with Maggie and her world.
It was definitely love: for the storyteller and the story she told.
Maggie tells their story. And she tells it beautifully. Her voice rang true and she made me see her world, her sister, her father, her mother. I understood how the family relationships worked, I understood what was important to them. And I saw enough to understand one or two things that Maggie didn’t
She was a tomboy, always at her father’s side. He took her out into the country and he taught her how to build shelters, how to make fires, how to live off the land. Everything that she might need to know to survive in the world.
But he didn’t tell her how to survive without him, and when he died in a logging accident his family was stricken.
And then Irene told her daughters that she needed to go away, to take seasonal work to earn the money that they needed to survive. She left them in the care of a childless couple, a couple that Maggie and Jenny had never met. Old friends, good people, she told them.
Maggie and Jenny struggle. Their new home is different from everything that have known before. And when Irene stops writing, when she stops sending money, things become even more difficult.
It was fascinating to watch the characters and their evolving relationships. The girls’ guardians were good people, but they were left in a very difficult position, coping with teenage girls who had started their lives in a very different home with very different values.
The world doesn’t stand still; things changed, and Maggie and Jenny needed their mother to guide them. But she didn’t come back.
In the end, when things became too much, Maggie realised that it was time to use the skills that her father had taught her. She set off to find her mother.
She headed back to her childhood home. She visited old friends and neighbours. And she learned more about her mother, and about what had become of her.
Shelter tells a wonderful story.
It moved slowly, but that was all to the good. It gave the characters and the relationships, all so perfectly drawn, room to shine. It made me think about so many different ways that the relationships between mothers, daughters, sisters can work. And it made me fall in love with an environment that was so vividly described.
I understood. I cared. And I was pulled into a world and a story that was quite perfectly realised.
Every scene played out exactly as it should.
And the ending was exactly right. The only possible ending. And it made me realise that I was completely emotionally engaged with Maggie and her world.
It was definitely love: for the storyteller and the story she told.
July 19, 2020
“ ‘Dovremmo cercarla’ E io: ‘È lei la madre’ . Quando lo dicevo ignoravo il peso che quelle parole avrebbero avuto sulle nostre vite. Possedevano il suono della verità, piene e inscalfibili. Ma sono diventate un’ancora che ci ha trascinate lontano dai nostri impulsi più sinceri.
Abbiamo aspettato che tornasse a prenderci ma non l’ha fatto”.
Sarà Maggie, la più giovane delle due sorelle, a raccontare tutta la storia, qualche anno più tardi.
Anni Settanta. British Columbia, Ontario, boschi del Chiclotin, antico territorio canadese abitato dagli indiani, dove una natura selvaggia e rigogliosa è a sua volta protagonista della storia, insieme a Irene, Patrick e alle loro due figlie, a quel tempo ancora bambine, Jenny e Maggie.
Irene è una donna forte, indipendente, si muove agile e sicura, in piena sintonia con la foresta, gli animali selvatici e gli elementi naturali, di cui non mostra avere timore alcuno; dagli esseri umani, invece, è meglio stare in guardia perché possono essere imprevedibili. Per Maggie la madre è una fortezza, una costante e un porto sicuro, le escursioni all’aperto con lei sono sempre distillati di felicità. Da Irene non si aspetta sorprese.
È Patrick, suo padre, a preoccuparla: “Ti dovevi accostare a lui come a un uccellino ferito, con cautela. Troppe attenzioni e sarebbe volato via.” Quell’elemento umano di imprevedibilità di cui parla sua madre, per Maggie si esprime e si concentra in lui, nonostante il suo celebre soprannome: Mr.Sicurezza.
Eppure è insieme a lui che la ragazzina impara a costruirsi un riparo nel folto del bosco, un riparo che possa resistere a ogni avversità naturale. È con lui che apprende le regole della sopravvivenza: “Se un giorno dovessi perderti, ecco la prima cosa che devi fare. Devi costruirti un piccolo rifugio. Non dimenticartelo mai“.
“Eravamo una famiglia normale; questa è la nostra storia. Le nostre giornate erano piene di sponde di fiumi e strade di ghiaia, di bici e cavallette. Ma pensate a una cosa: un giorno aprite una porta e invitate la tragedia entrare. Ecco che cosa mi hanno insegnato le mie preoccupazioni”.
Questo è il racconto, intenso e pieno di sorprese, tenero e crudele, di come due ragazze siano costrette a crescere in fretta, a prendersi cura di sé stesse e l’una dell’altra, di come imparino a orientarsi nel mondo; a trovare un centro di equilibrio nel caos, a sperare, rialzarsi e non arrendersi e infine a fidarsi dell’amore nonostante tutto.
Abbiamo aspettato che tornasse a prenderci ma non l’ha fatto”.
Sarà Maggie, la più giovane delle due sorelle, a raccontare tutta la storia, qualche anno più tardi.
Anni Settanta. British Columbia, Ontario, boschi del Chiclotin, antico territorio canadese abitato dagli indiani, dove una natura selvaggia e rigogliosa è a sua volta protagonista della storia, insieme a Irene, Patrick e alle loro due figlie, a quel tempo ancora bambine, Jenny e Maggie.
Irene è una donna forte, indipendente, si muove agile e sicura, in piena sintonia con la foresta, gli animali selvatici e gli elementi naturali, di cui non mostra avere timore alcuno; dagli esseri umani, invece, è meglio stare in guardia perché possono essere imprevedibili. Per Maggie la madre è una fortezza, una costante e un porto sicuro, le escursioni all’aperto con lei sono sempre distillati di felicità. Da Irene non si aspetta sorprese.
È Patrick, suo padre, a preoccuparla: “Ti dovevi accostare a lui come a un uccellino ferito, con cautela. Troppe attenzioni e sarebbe volato via.” Quell’elemento umano di imprevedibilità di cui parla sua madre, per Maggie si esprime e si concentra in lui, nonostante il suo celebre soprannome: Mr.Sicurezza.
Eppure è insieme a lui che la ragazzina impara a costruirsi un riparo nel folto del bosco, un riparo che possa resistere a ogni avversità naturale. È con lui che apprende le regole della sopravvivenza: “Se un giorno dovessi perderti, ecco la prima cosa che devi fare. Devi costruirti un piccolo rifugio. Non dimenticartelo mai“.
“Eravamo una famiglia normale; questa è la nostra storia. Le nostre giornate erano piene di sponde di fiumi e strade di ghiaia, di bici e cavallette. Ma pensate a una cosa: un giorno aprite una porta e invitate la tragedia entrare. Ecco che cosa mi hanno insegnato le mie preoccupazioni”.
Questo è il racconto, intenso e pieno di sorprese, tenero e crudele, di come due ragazze siano costrette a crescere in fretta, a prendersi cura di sé stesse e l’una dell’altra, di come imparino a orientarsi nel mondo; a trovare un centro di equilibrio nel caos, a sperare, rialzarsi e non arrendersi e infine a fidarsi dell’amore nonostante tutto.
August 22, 2013
I am unsure how to feel about this book because it seemed to me to begin as one story and end as another. Yes, the writing was vivid and almost mythical, but it also frustrated me at times when I wasn't sure which person's story was unfolding. I am still not connecting some of the "mystical" occurrences . I liked the letters the sisters wrote back and forth. Dad, Uncle Leslie and Vern were the characters that provided comfort which I find interesting since in this story of women, it is ultimately the men who seem to treat the main characters with kindness while other women just selfishly claim independence and push each other away. The stories being told at the end to explain Irene's life became tedious and the explanations too literary for me to believe they were offered by real people rather than book characters. Perhaps the biggest issue I had in reading this book is the negative momentum of the story. I didn't expect a story about abandonment to be sunny, but I just felt depressed as each " third thing" piled on. I just wanted it to be over and when it was I could only sigh. I do believe this book is very discussion worthy and that there is likely much that other readers took away from this story that I didn't. That is why I chose 4 stars, not 3.(less)
6 minutes ago ·
6 minutes ago ·
May 12, 2012
Maggie and Jenny live a mostly carefree life in the Canadian wilderness with their spirited and adoring parents. But then their father is killed in an accident. Not long after, their mother loads them up and drops them off with family friends. They never see her again. When another trying time strikes the sisters, Maggie realizes she must search for the truth of what happened to their mother.
I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I picked it up at Midwinter on a whim, because it sounded like the kind of adult novel I'd enjoy (yes, it is marketed for adults, though I think it has definite crossover appeal). It's gorgeously yet simply written, and the characters are beautifully drawn - I understood the publisher's note in the front about falling in love with Maggie. She's an excellent narrator. But something about this novel felt a bit uneven for me. It moves at a very leisurely pace, but it never plods - I was engaged the whole time. The result is that the plot develops slowly over a number of pages. Because of this, I felt a little disappointed in the ending - we find out what happened to Irene (the girls' mother) over a very small fraction of pages. This makes the story feel lopsided and is kind of a let-down after the sprawling way it was told in the beginning. However, I think the book is great. Like I said, the writing is beautiful, the characters are wonderful, and the story itself is very engaging. I definitely recommend this. I think I'm just sad it ended a big abruptly.
I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I picked it up at Midwinter on a whim, because it sounded like the kind of adult novel I'd enjoy (yes, it is marketed for adults, though I think it has definite crossover appeal). It's gorgeously yet simply written, and the characters are beautifully drawn - I understood the publisher's note in the front about falling in love with Maggie. She's an excellent narrator. But something about this novel felt a bit uneven for me. It moves at a very leisurely pace, but it never plods - I was engaged the whole time. The result is that the plot develops slowly over a number of pages. Because of this, I felt a little disappointed in the ending - we find out what happened to Irene (the girls' mother) over a very small fraction of pages. This makes the story feel lopsided and is kind of a let-down after the sprawling way it was told in the beginning. However, I think the book is great. Like I said, the writing is beautiful, the characters are wonderful, and the story itself is very engaging. I definitely recommend this. I think I'm just sad it ended a big abruptly.
July 11, 2012
Sort of quiet, depressing book about two girls who grew up in a makeshift sort of way and whose mother abandons them. Shelter is an apt title as the main character, little sister Maggie, is certainly looking for protection physically and emotionally. It took me a bit of time to get into the storyline. The writing is solid but not necessarily grabby and the beginning is almost too quaint. However, the author does a good job evoking sympathy for the characters, including the unsympathetic one. A few of the secondary players are the most interesting and dynamic of the book. Vern is terrific and I like how his uncle is actually a good guy. When you encounter ancillary fictional uncles it usually does not end well for the kids he hangs out with. Loved that this didn’t go there. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the big sister's storyline but it does touch on some interesting things.
July 8, 2012
I forced myself to get half way through this book and still hated it and still had no real clue what was going on so I quit reading. There were too many characters and the main characters were way underdeveloped. There was nothing about this story that drew me in or made me want to keep reading. The story was really detailed on inconsequential things and then large time periods would pass without hardly a mention to time.
In the story the girls' mother disappears. I really didn't couldnt care what happened to her.
August 6, 2014
This slow-moving elegant tale is a lovely exploration of family and friendship and motherhood and love. It’s also about abandonment and loneliness.
In the 1970s, Maggie and Jenny grow up in the backwoods of British Columbia with their hippie mother and Irish father. When their father is killed, Irene, their mother leaves them with an acquaintance, Bea, and goes off to be a camp cook in a logging camp. Bea treats the girls with an offhand affection, but it’s the happy-go-lucky Jenny who is her favourite. The more introspective Maggie is left to her own devices—working at a garage and hanging out with her friend, Vern.
But Irene doesn’t return, Jenny falls pregnant and is shipped off to the nuns in Vancouver to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Maggie, the younger sister, is the more practical of the two, and she decides she has to find out what happened to Irene.
This is a beautifully written story, simply told with grace and elegance. The relationships are complicated, but fully developed. The strongest is between the sisters, Maggie and Jenny, but those between Irene and her daughters, Irene and her friend Ruth, Maggie and Vern, Maggie and Cinnamon the cat, and the people living in the rural town are part of this story.
Greenslade has a beautiful eye for detail, both in her characters and the backwoods where much of the story is set. There’s love in the depictions of the Canadian landscape, and this, as much as anything, made this book such a joy.
The ending has a rushed feel to it, with a lot of information and telling packed into the final pages. It’s a fitting ending, drawn together like a mesh bag, but I would have preferred for the ending to unfold at a slower pace, in keeping with the rest of the book. Despite the tumult of the ending, I still loved this book enough to give it 5 stars.
In the 1970s, Maggie and Jenny grow up in the backwoods of British Columbia with their hippie mother and Irish father. When their father is killed, Irene, their mother leaves them with an acquaintance, Bea, and goes off to be a camp cook in a logging camp. Bea treats the girls with an offhand affection, but it’s the happy-go-lucky Jenny who is her favourite. The more introspective Maggie is left to her own devices—working at a garage and hanging out with her friend, Vern.
But Irene doesn’t return, Jenny falls pregnant and is shipped off to the nuns in Vancouver to have the baby and give it up for adoption. Maggie, the younger sister, is the more practical of the two, and she decides she has to find out what happened to Irene.
This is a beautifully written story, simply told with grace and elegance. The relationships are complicated, but fully developed. The strongest is between the sisters, Maggie and Jenny, but those between Irene and her daughters, Irene and her friend Ruth, Maggie and Vern, Maggie and Cinnamon the cat, and the people living in the rural town are part of this story.
Greenslade has a beautiful eye for detail, both in her characters and the backwoods where much of the story is set. There’s love in the depictions of the Canadian landscape, and this, as much as anything, made this book such a joy.
The ending has a rushed feel to it, with a lot of information and telling packed into the final pages. It’s a fitting ending, drawn together like a mesh bag, but I would have preferred for the ending to unfold at a slower pace, in keeping with the rest of the book. Despite the tumult of the ending, I still loved this book enough to give it 5 stars.
May 14, 2012
Another tear jerk-er for sure. The story started out with a bit of foreshadowing and I knew it wasn’t going to be a happy go lucky type of book. The picture the author paints is of a family that has problems, but for the most part works them out and continues to enjoy their relationships. Of course the point of view is that of one of the children so memories surface from time to time of other then happy moments. Other moments that leads the reader to believe that everything wasn’t as it seemed.
The pacing was great until the second half where it slowed a bit with letters that pushed the story ahead. The letters I felt slowed the story down, but it did give the reader vital information they would have missed without them. Love and loss are part of life. It just seems that some people get the short end of the straw more often than others. No indoor plumbing in the late 1960’s WOW, I wouldn’t like living in the bush. But that wasn’t their biggest problem by far.
I enjoyed this book and the ending was bitter sweet. I cried and I laughed and I thought about my relationship with my sisters. Would we have been able to depend on each other in this same situation? That is a tough one having never faced such challenges as the two girls in this book do. If you enjoy beautifully written tales of growing up, love, loss and depending on those closest to you, you will love this book.
The pacing was great until the second half where it slowed a bit with letters that pushed the story ahead. The letters I felt slowed the story down, but it did give the reader vital information they would have missed without them. Love and loss are part of life. It just seems that some people get the short end of the straw more often than others. No indoor plumbing in the late 1960’s WOW, I wouldn’t like living in the bush. But that wasn’t their biggest problem by far.
I enjoyed this book and the ending was bitter sweet. I cried and I laughed and I thought about my relationship with my sisters. Would we have been able to depend on each other in this same situation? That is a tough one having never faced such challenges as the two girls in this book do. If you enjoy beautifully written tales of growing up, love, loss and depending on those closest to you, you will love this book.
May 19, 2012
:I would say that the title Shelter appropriately sums up what this book is about. It's the search for physical shelter, monetary shelter, emotional shelter. Maggie, Jennie, their mother, and many of the other characters are all searching for it in different ways. Will they find it? You have to read the book to find out.
This book was beautiful in many ways but I found myself having a hard time with the narrative coming from a preteen girl. It just never rang quite true to me. The story it self never became a completely cohesive work for me. I still think that the book has interesting things to say. I especially liked the peek into the life of a logger and the interactions we see with the Indian community in the area. The beautiful friendship between Maggie and Vern is a heart melting coming of age tale.
I'm left with the feeling that I missed something in my reading of this story. A link, an event, a remark that tied it all together. I didn't find it but the book, was still worth the read. Many of the sub-stories made for good stories. I would love to hear others' thought after they've read it.
This book was beautiful in many ways but I found myself having a hard time with the narrative coming from a preteen girl. It just never rang quite true to me. The story it self never became a completely cohesive work for me. I still think that the book has interesting things to say. I especially liked the peek into the life of a logger and the interactions we see with the Indian community in the area. The beautiful friendship between Maggie and Vern is a heart melting coming of age tale.
I'm left with the feeling that I missed something in my reading of this story. A link, an event, a remark that tied it all together. I didn't find it but the book, was still worth the read. Many of the sub-stories made for good stories. I would love to hear others' thought after they've read it.
May 31, 2013
One of life's greatest pleasures is when you nonchalantly pick up a book and the story totally blindsides you! This is that kind of experience! I totally cared about these characters (and yes, I know they're not real) but they are to me!!! This has undertones of She's Come Undone, The Book of Ruth and Icy Sparks. I couldn't help thinking about how this mother could have done what she did to her two daughters. I think that the story was brilliantly put together, the characters are rich, funny and multi faceted. The pages turn themselves and the characters speak to your heart. I am constantly amazed by the level of talent that Canada has in it's literary world...how a simple tale can just grab you, shake and rattle you and in the end you don't mind the trip that you unexpectedly took without anyone asking if you'd like to go there. I would like to dedicate this review to one of the best Mom's out there...Ms Linda Price...I will save this baby for you!! You will have some words to share with Ms Irene (the mother in the novel)!! Linda, maybe you can adopt these two girls since you did such a good job with your 2 wonderful daughters...LOL!
October 10, 2024
I really loved the first 80% of this story! I grew very attached to a few of the characters and thought that the author did a fantastic job at writing from the point of view of a young teenage girl.
The ending is what knocked down this rating for me. It felt very rushed overall and once the main character gained the information she had been looking for, the book ended before we could see how it impacted her and her sister. It felt like there was a lot of tension being built up around this topic so this was disappointing.
Overall, this was a touching story which showed that the terms ‘family’ and ‘home’ can encompass more than their conventional meanings.
The ending is what knocked down this rating for me. It felt very rushed overall and once the main character gained the information she had been looking for, the book ended before we could see how it impacted her and her sister. It felt like there was a lot of tension being built up around this topic so this was disappointing.
Overall, this was a touching story which showed that the terms ‘family’ and ‘home’ can encompass more than their conventional meanings.
January 11, 2022
"Ich hatte mal gesehen, wie ein Haus abgerissen wurde, eine kleine Hütte in Duchess Creek, in der ein alter Mann bis zu seinem Tod gelebt hatte. An der Stelle sollte ein größeres, massives Holzhaus gebaut werden, eins von der Sorte, die rustikal aussehen will, obwohl sie nagelneu ist. Jenny und ich hatten von der Straße aus zugesehen, wie der Bagger sich in das Dach fraß und die Wände wegriss, als wären sie aus Pappe. Verblichene geblümte Vorhänge, noch an der Stange, hingen an den Zähnen der Baggerschaufel, als sie zum nächsten Biss ausholte, dann stürzten sie in den Schutt der Ruine und verschwanden. Als ich dastand, meinen Koffer vor mir auf dem Bett, kam ich mir vor wie das Haus, ein Tumult aus Staub und Chaos, nichts mehr an seinem Platz, nichts mehr so, wie es gewesen war."
Eine eigenwillige Geschichte über zwei Schwestern, die von ihrer Mutter sehr jung zurückgelassen werden, und ihren Weg im Leben finden müssen.
Eine eigenwillige Geschichte über zwei Schwestern, die von ihrer Mutter sehr jung zurückgelassen werden, und ihren Weg im Leben finden müssen.
August 3, 2016
Shelter takes place in Duchess Creek in British Columbia, Canada’s most westerly province. It begins during the 1960s and spans a period of several years. Shelter is told from the first person perspective of Margaret Dillon, known throughout as Maggie. The narrative is retrospective and the more sinister events of the novel are foreshadowed as it progresses.
The novel opens with Maggie stating that it was her older sister Jenny who urged her to document their story. The heartbreak of both sisters with regard to their abandonment by their mother, Irene, is clear from the start. Maggie tells us ‘we did not try to look for out mother. She was gone, like a cat who goes out the back door one night and doesn’t return… We let time pass, we waited, trusting her…’. She goes on to say that as her mother ‘was the constant in our lives, the certainty and the comfort’, neither she nor Jenny felt any reason to worry.
The girls’ father, Patrick, works at a local sawmill. His nickname is ‘Mr Safety’, and he is called it not just by his family but by his friends, who are ‘irritated by his careful checking and rechecking’. Patrick’s character is unsettled at times. He is plagued by what the Dillon family term ‘terrors… seizures of fear which took possession of his whole body when he was on the edge of sleep’. Seeing her almost as a ‘son’, Patrick teaches Maggie about survival in the wilderness. He teaches her how to construct a lean-to shelter whilst telling her ‘If you ever get lost, this is what you do first. You build yourself a little shelter’.
To the surprise and shock of the Dillons, Patrick is killed whilst at work and the family is forced to cope without him. Following his death, a chasm opens within the family. Maggie begins to see her mother as a distant figure: ‘she was not really my mother, but some beautiful woman with flushed skin going to have a nap in my mother’s bedroom’. Irene’s previously spirited character begins to unravel in consequence. She leaves the girls with the Edwards family in Williams Lake whilst she begins a job relatively far away. Unlike her popular sister, Maggie feels as though she never really fits with the Edwards, despite the warmth of wheelchair-bound Ted. When payments for the girls’ billet suddenly stop, nobody is able to discover where Irene has vanished to. Undeterred, Maggie sets out to find her and unravel the mystery of her sudden disappearance.
Shelter is rather an uncomfortable read at times. The entire novel is filled with dark incidents. These include shooting accidents, widespread alcoholism, the widespread isolation during the harsh Canadian winters, disability, coping with grief and loss and the wider concept of abandonment.
Greenslade’s descriptions are rich and are balanced well with the unfolding story. Jenny is described as a ‘powder blue beacon’ whose grief at the loss of their mother is ‘majestic and furious’. The natural environment which has prominence in the life of Maggie particularly, has been written about with true care on part of the author. Almost fairytale-esque elements are woven throughout the novel, particularly with regard to Maggie’s daydreams. Maggie’s narrative voice is consistently strong and she is a vivid character from the outset.
Greenslade has a real way with words and Shelter is certainly an accomplished novel. The abandonment of their girls and their gradual realisation of their mother’s whereabouts are realised sensitively and touchingly, and every single loose thread which appears in the novel is tied up well at the story’s end.
The novel opens with Maggie stating that it was her older sister Jenny who urged her to document their story. The heartbreak of both sisters with regard to their abandonment by their mother, Irene, is clear from the start. Maggie tells us ‘we did not try to look for out mother. She was gone, like a cat who goes out the back door one night and doesn’t return… We let time pass, we waited, trusting her…’. She goes on to say that as her mother ‘was the constant in our lives, the certainty and the comfort’, neither she nor Jenny felt any reason to worry.
The girls’ father, Patrick, works at a local sawmill. His nickname is ‘Mr Safety’, and he is called it not just by his family but by his friends, who are ‘irritated by his careful checking and rechecking’. Patrick’s character is unsettled at times. He is plagued by what the Dillon family term ‘terrors… seizures of fear which took possession of his whole body when he was on the edge of sleep’. Seeing her almost as a ‘son’, Patrick teaches Maggie about survival in the wilderness. He teaches her how to construct a lean-to shelter whilst telling her ‘If you ever get lost, this is what you do first. You build yourself a little shelter’.
To the surprise and shock of the Dillons, Patrick is killed whilst at work and the family is forced to cope without him. Following his death, a chasm opens within the family. Maggie begins to see her mother as a distant figure: ‘she was not really my mother, but some beautiful woman with flushed skin going to have a nap in my mother’s bedroom’. Irene’s previously spirited character begins to unravel in consequence. She leaves the girls with the Edwards family in Williams Lake whilst she begins a job relatively far away. Unlike her popular sister, Maggie feels as though she never really fits with the Edwards, despite the warmth of wheelchair-bound Ted. When payments for the girls’ billet suddenly stop, nobody is able to discover where Irene has vanished to. Undeterred, Maggie sets out to find her and unravel the mystery of her sudden disappearance.
Shelter is rather an uncomfortable read at times. The entire novel is filled with dark incidents. These include shooting accidents, widespread alcoholism, the widespread isolation during the harsh Canadian winters, disability, coping with grief and loss and the wider concept of abandonment.
Greenslade’s descriptions are rich and are balanced well with the unfolding story. Jenny is described as a ‘powder blue beacon’ whose grief at the loss of their mother is ‘majestic and furious’. The natural environment which has prominence in the life of Maggie particularly, has been written about with true care on part of the author. Almost fairytale-esque elements are woven throughout the novel, particularly with regard to Maggie’s daydreams. Maggie’s narrative voice is consistently strong and she is a vivid character from the outset.
Greenslade has a real way with words and Shelter is certainly an accomplished novel. The abandonment of their girls and their gradual realisation of their mother’s whereabouts are realised sensitively and touchingly, and every single loose thread which appears in the novel is tied up well at the story’s end.
December 1, 2012
In Shelter, a fiction novel, Frances Greenslade describes the setting of living in the wilderness of British Columbia so thoroughly that the reader feels as though they are actually there. The storyline is very interesting throughout, and makes the reader never want it to end. Shelter is one of the three books published by Frances Greenslade. Growing up in Ontario, Canada, and then moving to British Columbia herself, Frances Greenslade is able to relate to the characters by using very accurate description.
Living in the Pacific Mountains of British Columbia in the early 1970's, life for Maggie and her older sister, Jenny seemed as though it couldn't get much better. However, everything they had ever known went downhill when their father died in a logging accident. After moving around several times from camping to staying at neighbors' houses, Maggie and Jenny were not prepared to lose another parent. But when Maggie's mom, Irene drops her and Jenny off at friend's and gradually stops sending letters and money altogether, she realizes that Irene had abandoned them. As the years go by, Maggie and Jenny both face many obstacles, and at one point become separated, leading Maggie to deciding to go out and look for their mother.
This book was very insightful to me because it showed how quickly something good that's taken granted for can go wrong. The imagery and storyline was always interesting and suspenseful, and it was never boring. My favorite character was Maggie because I could relate to her the most. Shelter was a book I didn't want to end, and I would recommend to anyone. An important theme in this story to never take things for granted, because you may never know what you have until it's gone.
Living in the Pacific Mountains of British Columbia in the early 1970's, life for Maggie and her older sister, Jenny seemed as though it couldn't get much better. However, everything they had ever known went downhill when their father died in a logging accident. After moving around several times from camping to staying at neighbors' houses, Maggie and Jenny were not prepared to lose another parent. But when Maggie's mom, Irene drops her and Jenny off at friend's and gradually stops sending letters and money altogether, she realizes that Irene had abandoned them. As the years go by, Maggie and Jenny both face many obstacles, and at one point become separated, leading Maggie to deciding to go out and look for their mother.
This book was very insightful to me because it showed how quickly something good that's taken granted for can go wrong. The imagery and storyline was always interesting and suspenseful, and it was never boring. My favorite character was Maggie because I could relate to her the most. Shelter was a book I didn't want to end, and I would recommend to anyone. An important theme in this story to never take things for granted, because you may never know what you have until it's gone.
October 28, 2012
I very much enjoyed the story of Maggie Dillon, a quiet, woodsy girl abandoned mysteriously by her mother in the early 1970s in rural British Columbia. Maggie and her sister Jenny (sweet, sunnny, popular) make due with tempermental and mean-spirited Bea, waiting for their mother to return. But when Jenny finds herself pregnant and shipped off to an unwed mothers' home in Vancouver, Maggie decides to stop waiting for things to happen and take charge of her life.
Frances Greenslade knows how to write about nature. Her descriptions of the BC woods are breathtaking and vibrant. On the woodsy scale I'm about a 7 out of 10, but this book made me feel like a 10. I'm disappointed this book did not make it on this year's Canada Reads list, as it is both beautiful and super regional.
This qualifies as a poignant coming of age story (my favourite kind!) and a teenager could definitely read and enjoy this. Maggie is likable and it is heartbreaking when her cat is taken away and when she discovers what happens to her mother (somewhat farfetched and sensational, but affecting nonetheless). But Maggie is made of stronger stuff and has made a good friend in Vern, a kind-hearted boy from her adopted village who turns into something more.
Fans of The God of Animals, The Patron Saint of Liars, and Tell the Wolves I'm Home will enjoy this rich, moving story. I look forward to Greenslade's next book.
December 27, 2012
I loved this book overall. The story was set in the 70's, which is when I was a teenager myself so I could relate to some extent to the time-frame. However, the novel is set in a remote logging area of British Columbia and this made the story novel, exotic, fresh and thrilling for me. The author wonderfully described the natural setting in the story, really brought the environment to life and made the novel beautiful in a visual way, so much so that I am thinking about exploring that area! The characters were well developed, believable and likeable, or in a few cases, not likeable but still very believable, as well as seemed uniquely and authentically Canadian to me. The story line was engaging, even gripping until Maggie goes to find her mother. However, at that point, I felt that the story started heading down a line that did not really fit to the earlier story, although there were hints of Emil's existence early on. It seemed like the story up until that point in the story is one story, and then a separate story about Emil and his young lover got patched in but did not feel seamless, believable or even that sympathetic to me. I basically ignored that whole portion of the book and was still able to come out liking this book very much. The resolution of the sisters' story was satisfying and felt right.
September 5, 2012
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
"Shelter" is an amazing novel in that it is so powerfully realistic that it's agonizing at times. Maggie's narration is honest and straightforward, and through her story you glimpse the struggles of a girl to whom life has been unfairly harsh.
The character development in this novel is phenomenal. Maggie's quirks, worries, and flaws come together to make this unique character, but at the same time readers may well recognize aspects of themselves in her.
The plot moves well, though the third quarter of the book seemed a bit drawn-out and was borderline sluggish. At the same time, though, this may have been emotional exhaustion on my part - I found it difficult to keep returning to Maggie's world, mainly because it was not a place that I really wanted to spend any time. This novel tells a harsh story, and while I'm not typically oversensitive to heavy stories and plots, this novel truly drained me. It's still definitely worth the read and is a great book, but be prepared - it's a hard story to take.
"Shelter" is an amazing novel in that it is so powerfully realistic that it's agonizing at times. Maggie's narration is honest and straightforward, and through her story you glimpse the struggles of a girl to whom life has been unfairly harsh.
The character development in this novel is phenomenal. Maggie's quirks, worries, and flaws come together to make this unique character, but at the same time readers may well recognize aspects of themselves in her.
The plot moves well, though the third quarter of the book seemed a bit drawn-out and was borderline sluggish. At the same time, though, this may have been emotional exhaustion on my part - I found it difficult to keep returning to Maggie's world, mainly because it was not a place that I really wanted to spend any time. This novel tells a harsh story, and while I'm not typically oversensitive to heavy stories and plots, this novel truly drained me. It's still definitely worth the read and is a great book, but be prepared - it's a hard story to take.
January 3, 2013
2 sisters lead an interesting, slightly dysfunctional family life with a lumberjack father and a feminist mother in hippie days, out in the middle of nowhere. the daughter and the dad are huge worrywarts. the dad dies in an accident and soon after that, the mom leaves the family. the two girls are like... what the fuck mom?!?!? and one becomes more and more dysfunctional, leading to a knocked up kid and interesting stories about a nunnery where teen girls give birth to babies. the younger one tries to find the mom really hard. finally she tracks down the story, involving a paranoid schizophrenic ex boyrfeind. the boyfriend got the mom preg again after the dad died and the mom ran away to give birth. the story ends with the yougnest daughter learning the story of how her mom bled to death while giving birth.
this book ended in a HUGE what the fucking fuck. i really liked the girlhood story, meeting a nice guy, the wilderness and the native people, the psychoses, and the rebellion. but then you see a bloody dead mother and baby and the book ends. not good.
this book ended in a HUGE what the fucking fuck. i really liked the girlhood story, meeting a nice guy, the wilderness and the native people, the psychoses, and the rebellion. but then you see a bloody dead mother and baby and the book ends. not good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2015
It's not directly boring - just totally unexciting.
I expected a bit more of the "journey of finding the mother". But it was more of a plain walk through the life-so-far of the girls with a lot of unnecessary information and suddenly a bit of pregnancy here, a totally non-related meeting-of-a-stranger-for-2-seconds there. A kind of thrilling conspiracy against Jenny that - hey! - turned into nothing. A former friend that can tell a story about the mother's past in great detail - even though she heard this story years ago and didn't really have much contact with the mother since then? Suddenly Maggie and her friend make out for a minute - then he disappears for the rest of the book? Ah ok..
And then finally the truth about the mother - made the story in total unfortunately a bit needless...
I expected a bit more of the "journey of finding the mother". But it was more of a plain walk through the life-so-far of the girls with a lot of unnecessary information and suddenly a bit of pregnancy here, a totally non-related meeting-of-a-stranger-for-2-seconds there. A kind of thrilling conspiracy against Jenny that - hey! - turned into nothing. A former friend that can tell a story about the mother's past in great detail - even though she heard this story years ago and didn't really have much contact with the mother since then? Suddenly Maggie and her friend make out for a minute - then he disappears for the rest of the book? Ah ok..
And then finally the truth about the mother - made the story in total unfortunately a bit needless...
June 11, 2012
I enjoyed this book and finished it in one sitting. The book was engrossing as I watched these girls grow up. I thought that the author's depiction of the girls was phenomenal as these were girls I grew fond of reading them in the pages. There was an innocence to them that was overshadowed by desperate moves, yet never truly losing their connection to one another even with the tragic losses in their lives. The mystery of the mother's disappearance permeated the book, although it wasn't the central theme to the book. Why would a mother abandon her girls who already had lost their father in such a tragic incident?
July 22, 2013
Seldom do I read a book that I have not chosen for myself, so when this came to me from a friend and fellow reader, I decided it would be the perfect book for my vacation---hours of reading in the car, at the lakeshore in the shade and before bed late into the night. It was excellent. It took place in the 1970s in a rustic Canadian setting and was at its core a story about family and loss and secrets and discovery. It is a book that made me care about its characters even while I was boiling over the things they chose to do sometimes. I especially liked the character of Uncle Leslie--a man who treated the children/young adults in his life with fairness and respect.
August 3, 2012
I liked it but it slowed down in the last third of the book. Clearly at this point in the story, the girls are going to find out information about their mother and it just drags on. Too many descriptive paragraphs about the scenery that just bog down the story in this section. I just really wanted to know what happened/happens and I started skimming a lot to get to the meat of the story. Otherwise, the first 2/3 of the book are really well written and provide great character development - especially since this is narrated by a young girl.
April 11, 2012
I'd give Shelter a 3.5 overall. I enjoyed the story and felt invested in the characters. However, the last 50pgs it fell apart for me a little. It was fairly abrupt which was unfortunate given the time it seemed to take for the story to build. I'm glad to have read it (and won it as a first reads giveaway) though and learned what Maggie and Jenny went through at such a young and impressionable age.
January 25, 2013
I thought this was a beautiful book. The development of the characters, some of them so kind I wanted to cry, and the descriptions of nature in remote areas of British Columbia were amazing. Another reviewer wrote, and I agree, that the story started heading downhill when Maggie goes to find her mother and just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the book. Luckily, that is a short part of the book, and the rest of it was well worth reading.
March 3, 2013
I loved this book with its poetic prose, its rich description of the wilderness of the British Columbia coast, and its well-rounded characters. It is a heartbreaking story of a girl's search for the truth about her father's fatal accident and for the reason why her adventure-loving mother suddenly walked out on her two young daughters. As they struggle to survive, the sisters, Maggie and Jenny, bound together by their love for each other, continue to hope that their mother will one day return.
September 17, 2011
It is very hard for me to give a proper review of this book as I couldn’t finish it. The story was quite boring, didn’t have anything interesting to say, and was very slow paced.
The story is set in beautiful British Columbia and some of the descriptive narrative was nice but too much just ruined it. Perhaps someone else will have better luck than I did reading this.
The story is set in beautiful British Columbia and some of the descriptive narrative was nice but too much just ruined it. Perhaps someone else will have better luck than I did reading this.
July 16, 2012
The story of two sisters growing up in Canada during the mid 70s. Their safe and happy life is shattered when their father dies in a logging accident and their mother disappears. They live with a family friend during their fragile adolescence and continually wonder where their mother could be and why she left them.
February 5, 2014
I loved the story (compelling), the setting (1970s interior BC), and her writing.
May 21, 2014
Loved it!
June 19, 2015
Die Covergestaltung:
Das Cover dieses Taschenbuchs hat mich total begeistert. Es strahlt eine Fröhlichkeit und Zweisamkeit aus, die mich in ihren Bann gezogen hat. Ich kann auch nicht sagen wieso.
Aber diese beiden fröhlichen Mädchen/Frauen welche in den See oder das Meer springen haben mich begeistert.
Ich finde es ein gelungenes und vor allem sehr ansprechendes Cover, welches zum Lesen einlädt.
Der Inhalt:
Die Schwestern Maggie und Jenny wachsen mit ihren Eltern in den weiten Wäldern Kanadas auf. Zu Beginn kann man auch durchaus sagen, dass die Familie insgesamt eine glückliche war, auch wenn sie schon da ihre ersten Probleme hatten.
Doch dies Glück sollte nicht mehr lange wären, denn ein Schicksalsschlag nach dem anderen traf die beiden Schwestern. Erst stirbt der Vater, dann gibt die Mutter die Kinder bei Bekannten ab und letztlich passiert noch so einiges andere was die Schwestern auf eine harte Probe stellt.
Werden sie einen Weg aus der Krise finden? Wird ihre Mutter zurückkommen? Werden sie ein glückliches Leben erneut beginnen können?
Die Charaktere:
In erster Linie ist Maggie wohl der Hauptcharakter überhaupt. Sie ist der Sichtpunkt, aus dem der Leser seine Informationen erhält.
Vor allem bekommt man Einblick in ihre Gedanken, Sichtweisen und Ängsten. Man merkt sehr schnell, dass sie für ihr Alter eine reife, aber dennoch verschüchterte und ängstliche Persönlichkeit ist.
Sie braucht ihre Zeit um mit Leuten warm zu werden und selbst dann ist sie noch sehr verschlossen und zurückhaltend.
Ihre Schwester Jenny hingegen ist eine Frohnatur. Sie lässt sich so schnell nicht unterkriegen und weiß was sie möchte. Zumindest kann sie vieles sehr gut verbergen und erst ziemlich zum Schluss lernt man sie besser und intensiver kennen.
Natürlich gibt es auch noch einige andere interessante und prägende Charaktere, die man nicht vernachlässigen sollte.
Meine Meinung:
Ich habe mich mit diesem Buch mal ganz von meinen üblichen Büchern abgehangelt und wollte etwas Neues und gutes lesen. Nun bin ich bei diesem Buch hängen geblieben und kann im Großen und Ganzen sagen es ist wirklich das Lesen wert.
Es ist schön, ruhig und verständlich geschrieben. Wobei ich es teilweise schon etwas sehr traurig finde, aber andererseits ist die Situation in der Maggie und Jenny stecken keine lustige. Man erfährt in dem Buch viele Hintergründe, Gefühle und Sichtweisen die begeistern, abschrecken und irritieren. Ich finde es ist sehr viel vertreten, was einem zum Nachdenken bringt und gerade die Reaktionen konnte ich nicht immer ganz nachvollziehen.
Die Geschichte ist sehr berührend geschrieben.
Sehr schön lernt man auf den einzelnen Seiten den Charakter von Maggie kennen. Da das Buch aus ihrer Sichtweise geschrieben ist, nimmt man natürlich nur ihre war und kann sich dadurch auch nicht immer auf alle konzentrieren. Allerdings ist Maggie eine sehr gute Beobachterin, sodass man doch auf diese Art auch andere Charaktere kennen lernt.
Schon zu Beginn merkt man, dass Maggie ein sehr in sich gekehrtes Mädchen ist was durchaus von ihrem Vater her regt. Dieser ist nämlich vom gleichen Holz gemacht und sagt nur dann etwas, wenn es ihm auch wirklich wichtig erscheint.
Man merkt im ganzen Buch eine Melancholie welche sich ausbreitet und dadurch sehr gut aufzeigen kann wie sich ein Mensch mit Schicksalsschlägen ändern kann.
Sehr schade finde ich an dem Buch, dass ich manche Handlungen nicht wirklich nachvollziehen konnte. Es hat teilweise für meinen Geschmack zu lange gedauert, bis in gewissen Phasen gehandelt wurde. Man konnte durchaus wahrnehmen, dass der Verlust des Vaters und der Mutter bei ihnen vorhanden ist doch die Gegenarbeit blieb aus. Man muss sich doch wehren, versuchen einen Weg heraus zu finden und sich nicht damit abfinden.
Der Duft des Regens von Frances Greenslade - Seiten
Insgesamt finde ich die Geschichte aber gut aufgebaut. Durch Maggie lernt man einige verschiedene Charaktere kennen, die sie und ihre Schwester prägen. Es fällt auf, dass obwohl sich die Schwestern lieb haben sie sich in verschiedene Richtungen entwickeln und an einem weiteren Wendepunkt so langsam wieder zueinanderfinden. Doch trotzdem finde ich, dass sie irgendwie immer eine kleine Mauer zwischen sich haben welche zumindest ich gespürt und wahrgenommen habe.
Ziemlich zum Ende des Buches kommen dann auch viele Aufklärungen bezüglich der Eltern von Maggie und Jenny. Hier wurde plausibel und verständlich aufgeklärt, wieso verschiedene Situationen zu Stande gekommen sind. Etwas schade fand ich, dass es doch etwas lang gedauert hat bis die Schwestern mal agiert haben. Aber gut, man weiß ja nie wie man selber reagieren würde wenn verschiedene Dinge über einen hereinstürzen.
Die Person Maggie wurde von Frances Greenslade sehr liebevoll, detailliert und gefühlvoll wiedergegeben. Man merkt sehr schön wie sich ihre einzelnen Erwartungen, Gedanken und Wünsche entwickeln und verwirren.
Sehr schön ist, dass man im Buch wahrnimmt wie erwachsen die junge Maggie in ihrem Kopf eigentlich ist. Es ist traurig und faszinierend mitzuerleben, wie sie langsam mit ihrer Schwester gemeinsam ohne Mutter aufwächst und sich entwickelt.
Es gibt immer wieder Passagen, wo einfach das Kind in ihr zum Vorschein kommt auch wenn man es sonst nicht groß wahrnimmt.
Sehr schnell lernt sie, was es heißt auf eigenen Beinen zu stehen.
Auch alle anderen Personen im Buch sind liebevoll miteingebaut worden, wobei man nicht von allen alles hintergründige erfährt. Doch das ist auch gar nicht nötig. Die wichtigsten wurden gut und informativ aufgenommen, sodass man sie hervorragend mit ins Bild einfügen konnte.
Das Ende war für mich doch relativ überraschend und hat leider auch ein paar Fragen zurück gelassen. Die ein oder andere ist nicht so schlimm, da man seine eigene Fantasy spielen lassen kann. Doch leider sind auch einzelne Fragen offen gelassen worden, die ich gerne geklärt bekommen hätte. Einfach damit ich mir ein Reim daraus hätte machen können. Leider ist dies nicht immer gegeben gewesen.
Hier hat die Autorin wirklich einen herzzerreißenden, mitfühlenden und herrlichen Familienroman geschrieben der den Leser berührt. Man erlebt mit, wie eine Familie die doch so fest zusammen zu halten schien langsam auseinander bricht. Man möchte als Leser helfen und diese kleine Familie wieder zusammenführen, damit die Kinder in so jüngster Kindheit nicht so viel Leid ertragen müssen.
Und dennoch ist man auch neugierig, wie sie sich schlagen und ob nicht doch noch das Happy End am Ende des Buches auf einen wartet. Nämlich die Vereinigung der Familie in den trauten Wäldern von Kanada.
Mich hat die Geschichte gefesselt, aber ab und an auch mal nur langsam mitgeschleift wenn es mal wieder eine sehr langatmige Stelle war. Doch im Großen und Ganzen war ich gefesselt und wollte immer weiter in die Geschichte von Maggie und Jenny hineingezogen werden. Aus diesem Grund gebe ich diesem Buch 3,5 Sterne.
Mein Fazit:
Zum Schluss muss ich sagen, dass ich das Buch durchaus gelungen finde. Wer eine schön geschriebene und berührende Familiengeschichte miterleben möchte, der sollte sich dieses Buch auf alle Fälle zu Händen nehmen.
Ich konnte mit den Personen mitfühlen, auch wenn ich nicht immer alles nachvollziehen konnte wieso es nicht etwas früher schon hätte passieren können. Aber trotz alledem war ich sehr berührt, fasziniert, beeindruckt und gefesselt von dieser tollen Geschichte.
Das Cover dieses Taschenbuchs hat mich total begeistert. Es strahlt eine Fröhlichkeit und Zweisamkeit aus, die mich in ihren Bann gezogen hat. Ich kann auch nicht sagen wieso.
Aber diese beiden fröhlichen Mädchen/Frauen welche in den See oder das Meer springen haben mich begeistert.
Ich finde es ein gelungenes und vor allem sehr ansprechendes Cover, welches zum Lesen einlädt.
Der Inhalt:
Die Schwestern Maggie und Jenny wachsen mit ihren Eltern in den weiten Wäldern Kanadas auf. Zu Beginn kann man auch durchaus sagen, dass die Familie insgesamt eine glückliche war, auch wenn sie schon da ihre ersten Probleme hatten.
Doch dies Glück sollte nicht mehr lange wären, denn ein Schicksalsschlag nach dem anderen traf die beiden Schwestern. Erst stirbt der Vater, dann gibt die Mutter die Kinder bei Bekannten ab und letztlich passiert noch so einiges andere was die Schwestern auf eine harte Probe stellt.
Werden sie einen Weg aus der Krise finden? Wird ihre Mutter zurückkommen? Werden sie ein glückliches Leben erneut beginnen können?
Die Charaktere:
In erster Linie ist Maggie wohl der Hauptcharakter überhaupt. Sie ist der Sichtpunkt, aus dem der Leser seine Informationen erhält.
Vor allem bekommt man Einblick in ihre Gedanken, Sichtweisen und Ängsten. Man merkt sehr schnell, dass sie für ihr Alter eine reife, aber dennoch verschüchterte und ängstliche Persönlichkeit ist.
Sie braucht ihre Zeit um mit Leuten warm zu werden und selbst dann ist sie noch sehr verschlossen und zurückhaltend.
Ihre Schwester Jenny hingegen ist eine Frohnatur. Sie lässt sich so schnell nicht unterkriegen und weiß was sie möchte. Zumindest kann sie vieles sehr gut verbergen und erst ziemlich zum Schluss lernt man sie besser und intensiver kennen.
Natürlich gibt es auch noch einige andere interessante und prägende Charaktere, die man nicht vernachlässigen sollte.
Meine Meinung:
Ich habe mich mit diesem Buch mal ganz von meinen üblichen Büchern abgehangelt und wollte etwas Neues und gutes lesen. Nun bin ich bei diesem Buch hängen geblieben und kann im Großen und Ganzen sagen es ist wirklich das Lesen wert.
Es ist schön, ruhig und verständlich geschrieben. Wobei ich es teilweise schon etwas sehr traurig finde, aber andererseits ist die Situation in der Maggie und Jenny stecken keine lustige. Man erfährt in dem Buch viele Hintergründe, Gefühle und Sichtweisen die begeistern, abschrecken und irritieren. Ich finde es ist sehr viel vertreten, was einem zum Nachdenken bringt und gerade die Reaktionen konnte ich nicht immer ganz nachvollziehen.
Die Geschichte ist sehr berührend geschrieben.
Sehr schön lernt man auf den einzelnen Seiten den Charakter von Maggie kennen. Da das Buch aus ihrer Sichtweise geschrieben ist, nimmt man natürlich nur ihre war und kann sich dadurch auch nicht immer auf alle konzentrieren. Allerdings ist Maggie eine sehr gute Beobachterin, sodass man doch auf diese Art auch andere Charaktere kennen lernt.
Schon zu Beginn merkt man, dass Maggie ein sehr in sich gekehrtes Mädchen ist was durchaus von ihrem Vater her regt. Dieser ist nämlich vom gleichen Holz gemacht und sagt nur dann etwas, wenn es ihm auch wirklich wichtig erscheint.
Man merkt im ganzen Buch eine Melancholie welche sich ausbreitet und dadurch sehr gut aufzeigen kann wie sich ein Mensch mit Schicksalsschlägen ändern kann.
Sehr schade finde ich an dem Buch, dass ich manche Handlungen nicht wirklich nachvollziehen konnte. Es hat teilweise für meinen Geschmack zu lange gedauert, bis in gewissen Phasen gehandelt wurde. Man konnte durchaus wahrnehmen, dass der Verlust des Vaters und der Mutter bei ihnen vorhanden ist doch die Gegenarbeit blieb aus. Man muss sich doch wehren, versuchen einen Weg heraus zu finden und sich nicht damit abfinden.
Der Duft des Regens von Frances Greenslade - Seiten
Insgesamt finde ich die Geschichte aber gut aufgebaut. Durch Maggie lernt man einige verschiedene Charaktere kennen, die sie und ihre Schwester prägen. Es fällt auf, dass obwohl sich die Schwestern lieb haben sie sich in verschiedene Richtungen entwickeln und an einem weiteren Wendepunkt so langsam wieder zueinanderfinden. Doch trotzdem finde ich, dass sie irgendwie immer eine kleine Mauer zwischen sich haben welche zumindest ich gespürt und wahrgenommen habe.
Ziemlich zum Ende des Buches kommen dann auch viele Aufklärungen bezüglich der Eltern von Maggie und Jenny. Hier wurde plausibel und verständlich aufgeklärt, wieso verschiedene Situationen zu Stande gekommen sind. Etwas schade fand ich, dass es doch etwas lang gedauert hat bis die Schwestern mal agiert haben. Aber gut, man weiß ja nie wie man selber reagieren würde wenn verschiedene Dinge über einen hereinstürzen.
Die Person Maggie wurde von Frances Greenslade sehr liebevoll, detailliert und gefühlvoll wiedergegeben. Man merkt sehr schön wie sich ihre einzelnen Erwartungen, Gedanken und Wünsche entwickeln und verwirren.
Sehr schön ist, dass man im Buch wahrnimmt wie erwachsen die junge Maggie in ihrem Kopf eigentlich ist. Es ist traurig und faszinierend mitzuerleben, wie sie langsam mit ihrer Schwester gemeinsam ohne Mutter aufwächst und sich entwickelt.
Es gibt immer wieder Passagen, wo einfach das Kind in ihr zum Vorschein kommt auch wenn man es sonst nicht groß wahrnimmt.
Sehr schnell lernt sie, was es heißt auf eigenen Beinen zu stehen.
Auch alle anderen Personen im Buch sind liebevoll miteingebaut worden, wobei man nicht von allen alles hintergründige erfährt. Doch das ist auch gar nicht nötig. Die wichtigsten wurden gut und informativ aufgenommen, sodass man sie hervorragend mit ins Bild einfügen konnte.
Das Ende war für mich doch relativ überraschend und hat leider auch ein paar Fragen zurück gelassen. Die ein oder andere ist nicht so schlimm, da man seine eigene Fantasy spielen lassen kann. Doch leider sind auch einzelne Fragen offen gelassen worden, die ich gerne geklärt bekommen hätte. Einfach damit ich mir ein Reim daraus hätte machen können. Leider ist dies nicht immer gegeben gewesen.
Hier hat die Autorin wirklich einen herzzerreißenden, mitfühlenden und herrlichen Familienroman geschrieben der den Leser berührt. Man erlebt mit, wie eine Familie die doch so fest zusammen zu halten schien langsam auseinander bricht. Man möchte als Leser helfen und diese kleine Familie wieder zusammenführen, damit die Kinder in so jüngster Kindheit nicht so viel Leid ertragen müssen.
Und dennoch ist man auch neugierig, wie sie sich schlagen und ob nicht doch noch das Happy End am Ende des Buches auf einen wartet. Nämlich die Vereinigung der Familie in den trauten Wäldern von Kanada.
Mich hat die Geschichte gefesselt, aber ab und an auch mal nur langsam mitgeschleift wenn es mal wieder eine sehr langatmige Stelle war. Doch im Großen und Ganzen war ich gefesselt und wollte immer weiter in die Geschichte von Maggie und Jenny hineingezogen werden. Aus diesem Grund gebe ich diesem Buch 3,5 Sterne.
Mein Fazit:
Zum Schluss muss ich sagen, dass ich das Buch durchaus gelungen finde. Wer eine schön geschriebene und berührende Familiengeschichte miterleben möchte, der sollte sich dieses Buch auf alle Fälle zu Händen nehmen.
Ich konnte mit den Personen mitfühlen, auch wenn ich nicht immer alles nachvollziehen konnte wieso es nicht etwas früher schon hätte passieren können. Aber trotz alledem war ich sehr berührt, fasziniert, beeindruckt und gefesselt von dieser tollen Geschichte.
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