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Ghostbird
Someone needs to be forgiven. Someone needs to forgive.
‘Charming, quirky, magical’ Joanne Harris
Nothing hurts like not knowing who you are.
Nobody will tell Cadi anything about her father and her sister. Her mother Violet believes she can only cope with the past by never talking about it. Lili, Cadi’s aunt, is stuck in the middle, bound by a promise she shouldn’t have made. But this summer, Cadi is determined to find out the truth.
In a world of hauntings and magic, in a village where it rains throughout August, as Cadi starts on her search, the secrets and the ghosts begin to wake up. None of the Hopkins women will be able to escape them.
‘Carol Lovekin’s prose is full of beautifully strange poetry.’
Rebecca Mascull, author of The Visitors and Song of the Sea Maid.
‘Drawing on nature, witchcraft, age-old fairytales and secrets,
Lovekin weaves a powerful, spellbinding tale.’
Judith Kinghorn, author of The Last Summer.
‘Charming, quirky, magical’ Joanne Harris
Nothing hurts like not knowing who you are.
Nobody will tell Cadi anything about her father and her sister. Her mother Violet believes she can only cope with the past by never talking about it. Lili, Cadi’s aunt, is stuck in the middle, bound by a promise she shouldn’t have made. But this summer, Cadi is determined to find out the truth.
In a world of hauntings and magic, in a village where it rains throughout August, as Cadi starts on her search, the secrets and the ghosts begin to wake up. None of the Hopkins women will be able to escape them.
‘Carol Lovekin’s prose is full of beautifully strange poetry.’
Rebecca Mascull, author of The Visitors and Song of the Sea Maid.
‘Drawing on nature, witchcraft, age-old fairytales and secrets,
Lovekin weaves a powerful, spellbinding tale.’
Judith Kinghorn, author of The Last Summer.
- GenresContemporaryFantasy
340 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published March 17, 2016
9 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Carol Lovekin
5 books27 followersCarol Lovekin is the author of four novels published by Honno, the Welsh Women's Press. Her books touch on the Welsh Gothic. She writes about mother/daughter relationships, family dynamics & her stories are rooted in the Welsh landscape.
Her newest book, ONLY MAY was published in May 2022.
WILD SPINNING GIRLS (2019) was shortlisted for the Literature Wales Book of the Year 2021/Rhys Davies Fiction Award.
SNOW SISTERS (2017) was chosen by the Welsh Books Council as their October Book of the Month (for independent shops.)
GHOSTBIRD (2016) was a Waterstones Wales and Welsh Independent Bookshops Book of the Month; a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2016 & in the same year was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize.
Her newest book, ONLY MAY was published in May 2022.
WILD SPINNING GIRLS (2019) was shortlisted for the Literature Wales Book of the Year 2021/Rhys Davies Fiction Award.
SNOW SISTERS (2017) was chosen by the Welsh Books Council as their October Book of the Month (for independent shops.)
GHOSTBIRD (2016) was a Waterstones Wales and Welsh Independent Bookshops Book of the Month; a Guardian Readers’ Choice for 2016 & in the same year was longlisted for the Not the Booker Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 6, 2022
Such a good read. Keeps you wondering.
February 26, 2017
'Math and Gwydion took the flowers of oak and broom and meadowsweet and from these conjured up the loveliest and most beautiful girl anyone had seen; they baptised her with the form of baptism that was used then, and named her Blodeuwedd.'
‘Math, Son of Mathonwy’
The Mabinogion
In a small welsh village where in August it rains every day, there’s a house named Ty Aderyn: the house of birds. Built by a local man for his lover, the house has been home to generations of the Hopkins family, whose women are ‘beautiful and generous, black-haired, with eyes the colour of harebells and desire.’ Near Ty Aderyn is a lake where, fourteen years ago, a tragedy took place: in the split second her father’s attention is taken away, little Dora Hopkins drowns, devastating the Hopkins family and fundamentally changing the life of her unborn sister, Cadi.
Fourteen years later, Cadi Hopkins is a girl who feels everyone knows her story but her; she knows her sister Dora drowned and her father Telio died in a car accident before she was born but has no idea what they were like as people; Violet, her troubled and emotionally distant mother, feels the best way to deal with the past is by not dealing with it; Lily, Telio’s sister, is sympathetic to Cadi’s plight but bound by a promise to Violet she knows she should never have made. But this summer, Cadi is determined to find out the truth. And she’d better hurry: out at the lake, a ghost is stirring.
In Ghostbird, Carol Lovekin has created a beautifully emotional story about the importance of forgiveness, wrapped up in a loose retelling of the story of Blodeuwedd (the above quote is also used as the book’s epigraph). If, like me, you’re not familiar with the Mabinogion, this needn’t worry, for it’s motifs, rather than the story’s framework, Lovekin uses to put forward her ideas. Birds, for instance, are a prominent motif, in particular, owls, the bird Blodeuwedd is cursed to remain as and what the ghost slowly metamorphoses into: what is a punishment in one becomes a symbol of freedom in the other. Dora’s full name is revealed to be Isadora Bloddeuwedd, one name chosen by Violet, the other by Telio, their order of placement, their very choosing, a symbol of the conflict between them. The name Bloddeuwedd itself means ‘flower face’ and one of the signs of the ghost’s presence is the cloying scent of meadowsweet.
One of the things I must commend Lovekin for is the portrayal of her male characters; with more feminist, or more female centric, retellings of folk and fairy tales there is a tendency to render them as two dimensionally as the women before them or as pantomime villains, which, for me, doesn’t so much redress the balance as just swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. Lovekin does not fall into this trap. Her male characters are not perfect, yes, but have positive traits to counterbalance their flaws. They are, in other words, fully rounded people.
That being said however, this story belongs to the Hopkins women: Cadi, Violet and Lily. Cadi is a character who you never fail to sympathise with, even when circumstances force her to behave childishly, as information she has a need and right to know is kept from her. Violet is more problematic: daughter of a woman who withheld any motherly love, lonely woman who married a man whom she wasn’t right for nor he her, and mother unable and unwilling to let go of the grief for the daughter she lost in order to form a relationship with the daughter she has. You’ll frequently find yourself torn between the desire to give her a hug and to give her a good shake, often in the space of the same page. It is through Violet that the story’s major theme plays out, which is, in a similar vein to Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, that in order to move forward, past hurts must eventually either be forgiven or forgotten, even if little has been or can be done to rectify them. If Cadi and Violet are opposite extremes, then Lily provides the balance, sympathizing with Cadi, knowing she has a right to what is being,kept secret but reluctant to break her promise of silence to Violet, no matter how ill-conceived she knows it may have been, trying instead to talk Cadi and Violet into a dialogue, with varying degrees of success.
Another thing I must commend Lovekin for is her portrayal of same sex relationships: during the course of the story, Lily falls in love with another woman in the village – and that’s it: it isn’t swept under the carpet nor does it take over the narrative, it’s just one of the many elements in the novel’s tapestry, treated as completely normal, and its beautiful.
Review originally published:http://www.walesartsreview.org/ghostb...
‘Math, Son of Mathonwy’
The Mabinogion
In a small welsh village where in August it rains every day, there’s a house named Ty Aderyn: the house of birds. Built by a local man for his lover, the house has been home to generations of the Hopkins family, whose women are ‘beautiful and generous, black-haired, with eyes the colour of harebells and desire.’ Near Ty Aderyn is a lake where, fourteen years ago, a tragedy took place: in the split second her father’s attention is taken away, little Dora Hopkins drowns, devastating the Hopkins family and fundamentally changing the life of her unborn sister, Cadi.
Fourteen years later, Cadi Hopkins is a girl who feels everyone knows her story but her; she knows her sister Dora drowned and her father Telio died in a car accident before she was born but has no idea what they were like as people; Violet, her troubled and emotionally distant mother, feels the best way to deal with the past is by not dealing with it; Lily, Telio’s sister, is sympathetic to Cadi’s plight but bound by a promise to Violet she knows she should never have made. But this summer, Cadi is determined to find out the truth. And she’d better hurry: out at the lake, a ghost is stirring.
In Ghostbird, Carol Lovekin has created a beautifully emotional story about the importance of forgiveness, wrapped up in a loose retelling of the story of Blodeuwedd (the above quote is also used as the book’s epigraph). If, like me, you’re not familiar with the Mabinogion, this needn’t worry, for it’s motifs, rather than the story’s framework, Lovekin uses to put forward her ideas. Birds, for instance, are a prominent motif, in particular, owls, the bird Blodeuwedd is cursed to remain as and what the ghost slowly metamorphoses into: what is a punishment in one becomes a symbol of freedom in the other. Dora’s full name is revealed to be Isadora Bloddeuwedd, one name chosen by Violet, the other by Telio, their order of placement, their very choosing, a symbol of the conflict between them. The name Bloddeuwedd itself means ‘flower face’ and one of the signs of the ghost’s presence is the cloying scent of meadowsweet.
One of the things I must commend Lovekin for is the portrayal of her male characters; with more feminist, or more female centric, retellings of folk and fairy tales there is a tendency to render them as two dimensionally as the women before them or as pantomime villains, which, for me, doesn’t so much redress the balance as just swing the pendulum in the opposite direction. Lovekin does not fall into this trap. Her male characters are not perfect, yes, but have positive traits to counterbalance their flaws. They are, in other words, fully rounded people.
That being said however, this story belongs to the Hopkins women: Cadi, Violet and Lily. Cadi is a character who you never fail to sympathise with, even when circumstances force her to behave childishly, as information she has a need and right to know is kept from her. Violet is more problematic: daughter of a woman who withheld any motherly love, lonely woman who married a man whom she wasn’t right for nor he her, and mother unable and unwilling to let go of the grief for the daughter she lost in order to form a relationship with the daughter she has. You’ll frequently find yourself torn between the desire to give her a hug and to give her a good shake, often in the space of the same page. It is through Violet that the story’s major theme plays out, which is, in a similar vein to Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, that in order to move forward, past hurts must eventually either be forgiven or forgotten, even if little has been or can be done to rectify them. If Cadi and Violet are opposite extremes, then Lily provides the balance, sympathizing with Cadi, knowing she has a right to what is being,kept secret but reluctant to break her promise of silence to Violet, no matter how ill-conceived she knows it may have been, trying instead to talk Cadi and Violet into a dialogue, with varying degrees of success.
Another thing I must commend Lovekin for is her portrayal of same sex relationships: during the course of the story, Lily falls in love with another woman in the village – and that’s it: it isn’t swept under the carpet nor does it take over the narrative, it’s just one of the many elements in the novel’s tapestry, treated as completely normal, and its beautiful.
Review originally published:http://www.walesartsreview.org/ghostb...
April 21, 2016
I'm not giving a rundown of what this book is about. The blurb does that rather nicely. The subtle, magical, lyrical words between the covers tell a story of how tragedy exacts its price, creates secrets that aren't secrets at all. We keep them from ourselves, not others. Cadi, Violet and Lili swarm around one another, always at odds. While Cadi storms and Violet hides, Lili gets caught in the middle, forced to keep silent when she knows it's wrong. And Dora, lost child, fights to be seen by those hurt most by her absence.
This is a book of love above all things--the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. There is magic, so much magic. Not just in the story, but woven with words and myth, feathers and water. It's not something you read, nose down and flipping pages, but a book to be savored and read over and over again.
This is a book of love above all things--the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. There is magic, so much magic. Not just in the story, but woven with words and myth, feathers and water. It's not something you read, nose down and flipping pages, but a book to be savored and read over and over again.
September 22, 2019
It may seem odd to give a book 4 stars yet abandon it unfinished. I loved the prose and the setting, but the characters were rather annoying and the story was too static for my tastes. But I abandoned the book because I found a story based on the drowning of a child too uncomfortable to read.
April 9, 2016
My record for choosing wonderful books based on the beautiful cover strikes gold once more!! This was an absolutely stunning read!
Based in Wales, it features the story of the Hopkins women who have always been well known in the local community and Cadi is trying to find out about her father and sister, both whom died before she was born. Her mother, Violet, has almost blanked out the past and refuses to discuss anything with Cadi and seems to punish her with her silence. Cadi seeks solace in her Aunt Lili who seemed to have taken over the mother role at times, but even she is reluctant to share secrets of the past. Cadi just wants answers and as a teenager she feels alone and angry, and feels the prescence of those ghosts and often finds this comforting as she battles to be heard.
It is fascinating to see how the 3 women deal with the tragedies and secrets from the past, and how it has affected them all in the more recent years.
The author has such a wondeful way with words and many scenes were hauntingly beautiful that you cannot help but be swept along in the magic of it all. A definite must read!!
Based in Wales, it features the story of the Hopkins women who have always been well known in the local community and Cadi is trying to find out about her father and sister, both whom died before she was born. Her mother, Violet, has almost blanked out the past and refuses to discuss anything with Cadi and seems to punish her with her silence. Cadi seeks solace in her Aunt Lili who seemed to have taken over the mother role at times, but even she is reluctant to share secrets of the past. Cadi just wants answers and as a teenager she feels alone and angry, and feels the prescence of those ghosts and often finds this comforting as she battles to be heard.
It is fascinating to see how the 3 women deal with the tragedies and secrets from the past, and how it has affected them all in the more recent years.
The author has such a wondeful way with words and many scenes were hauntingly beautiful that you cannot help but be swept along in the magic of it all. A definite must read!!
July 26, 2016
I was drawn to Ghostbird by the reviews of others, and I was right to be drawn, beautifully written, lyrical with brilliantly unique women characters it has many elements that I love in a novel. Strongly rooted in the natural world of the Welsh countryside, it is a novel which draws on the traditions of witchcraft, folk tales and ghosts. It is also a compelling story of family secrets.
Cadi Hopkins is fourteen, living with her mother Violet, in the cottage next door to that of her aunt Lili Hopkins. Here the Hopkins’ have lived for generations. The Hopkins women are said to have gifts of witchcraft, and Cadi knows her mother and aunt are gossiped about, she hears the other women in the village shop. Lili’s brother was Cadi’s father but he died before Cadi was born, a month after Cadi’s elder sister was tragically drowned in the lake close to Ty Aderyn; the Hopkins’ cottages. No one will tell Cadi anything about her father or the sister she will never know, but Cadi is determined that now, finally this summer she will discover the truth.
full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2016/...
Cadi Hopkins is fourteen, living with her mother Violet, in the cottage next door to that of her aunt Lili Hopkins. Here the Hopkins’ have lived for generations. The Hopkins women are said to have gifts of witchcraft, and Cadi knows her mother and aunt are gossiped about, she hears the other women in the village shop. Lili’s brother was Cadi’s father but he died before Cadi was born, a month after Cadi’s elder sister was tragically drowned in the lake close to Ty Aderyn; the Hopkins’ cottages. No one will tell Cadi anything about her father or the sister she will never know, but Cadi is determined that now, finally this summer she will discover the truth.
full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2016/...
May 2, 2016
This dreamy, evocative, lyrical novel is an utter delight. It took me forever to finish, simply because I had to keep rereading some of the gorgeous passages. Carol Lovekin brings nature and magic to pulsating life - I could smell the endless rain, feel the whisper of ghosts up and down my arms, hear the trees. It is a story of forgiveness, of facing our personal ghosts, of difficult truths. And it is unforgettable.
December 23, 2016
Some of the characters were likeable. The plot was frustrating & didn't feel all that believable in parts. Based around a few interesting ideas. Took me ages to read which as a standard rule means I'm not enjoying it that much! Didn't hate it though.
September 27, 2017
I put this book down for a bit at the first mention of ghosts - I know, I could have guessed there might be one from the title - as things were getting creepy. Once I restarted (when no longer alone in the house), Ghostbird took me over... in a good way. There's a blend of mystery, coming of age, quest, family secrets, magic realism and the supernatural here, all of which make for an original and surprising novel. I fell in love with the writing - the prose is wonderfully crafted, always with great attention to the sound of language. Excellent dialogue too, while I'm at it, which captures personalities and feels authentic. While the novel contains considerable darkness, delicious moments of low-key humour and non-realism keep the tone upbeat, if not bright.
So, to the plot. Teenager Cadi decides she is going to find out the truth about the circumstances of her father's and sister's deaths, despite opposition from her emotionally absent, grief-stricken mother Violet and her white-witch lesbian aunt, Lili, Violet's sister. Cadi also has to contend with the childlike ghost that appears one day by the local late, where years ago her sister drowned as a small child. As she becomes more estranged from her mother, who resists Cadi's questions, Cadi is drawn to seek out the mysterious apparition...
Ok, this might sound like the start of a horror story but it definitely isn't one. Moments of spookiness recur but they won't freak you out ;)
The novel is told from the points of view of each of the main characters. Lili is a strong, compassionate woman who is torn by the duty she feels to her sister to keep a promise and the urge to reveal the truth to Cadi. For me she was the most interesting character, with her spells and green fingers and disregard for what the villagers may be saying about her. "Witch women, even sensible ones, are usually watched by somebody."
Fearless, feisty Cadi is also engaging and easy to root for; at fourteen, she feels she can no longer put up with being excluded from the secrets of adults, and strives to find out about her lost sister. In contrast, Violet is fearful and anxious, and in her mental pain after the death of her first child and husband has shut herself off from her surviving daughter. She is difficult to like but well portrayed. As the story develops, we learn how she has come to be as she is, and start to see her differently.
I loved how the characters and their lives are grounded in the setting, a Welsh village that feels very real, with the usual busybodies, loners, newcomers, etc - and where it rains everyday in August! Woven into the novel's backdrop are local folklore and ancient tales, in particular the story of Blodeuwedd, the girl created from flowers in The Mabinogion.
Blodeuwedd features in The Owl Service by Alan Garner, a book I greatly enjoyed for its originality and strangeness. Ghostbird also evokes an unsettling atmosphere and is infused with paranormal/fantastic elements. The dynamics of relationships and community are far more to the fore, I'd say - this is a novel for girls/women about girls/women (in the main - there are significant male characters but they are less prominent.) At its heart, it is about how tragedy can destroy families and the power of love, friendship and forgiveness.
The ending, though not unexpected in some ways, has a satisfying emotional resolution and one memorably strange, magical moment.
I'd highly recommend Ghostbird if you enjoy something refreshingly different and gorgeously written. Ms Lovekin's next novel Snow Sisters is out now, I hear. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
NOTE: I was sent a copy of the book from the author as the reward for my bid in the Writers For Grenfell tower fire fundraiser earlier this year.
So, to the plot. Teenager Cadi decides she is going to find out the truth about the circumstances of her father's and sister's deaths, despite opposition from her emotionally absent, grief-stricken mother Violet and her white-witch lesbian aunt, Lili, Violet's sister. Cadi also has to contend with the childlike ghost that appears one day by the local late, where years ago her sister drowned as a small child. As she becomes more estranged from her mother, who resists Cadi's questions, Cadi is drawn to seek out the mysterious apparition...
Ok, this might sound like the start of a horror story but it definitely isn't one. Moments of spookiness recur but they won't freak you out ;)
The novel is told from the points of view of each of the main characters. Lili is a strong, compassionate woman who is torn by the duty she feels to her sister to keep a promise and the urge to reveal the truth to Cadi. For me she was the most interesting character, with her spells and green fingers and disregard for what the villagers may be saying about her. "Witch women, even sensible ones, are usually watched by somebody."
Fearless, feisty Cadi is also engaging and easy to root for; at fourteen, she feels she can no longer put up with being excluded from the secrets of adults, and strives to find out about her lost sister. In contrast, Violet is fearful and anxious, and in her mental pain after the death of her first child and husband has shut herself off from her surviving daughter. She is difficult to like but well portrayed. As the story develops, we learn how she has come to be as she is, and start to see her differently.
I loved how the characters and their lives are grounded in the setting, a Welsh village that feels very real, with the usual busybodies, loners, newcomers, etc - and where it rains everyday in August! Woven into the novel's backdrop are local folklore and ancient tales, in particular the story of Blodeuwedd, the girl created from flowers in The Mabinogion.
Blodeuwedd features in The Owl Service by Alan Garner, a book I greatly enjoyed for its originality and strangeness. Ghostbird also evokes an unsettling atmosphere and is infused with paranormal/fantastic elements. The dynamics of relationships and community are far more to the fore, I'd say - this is a novel for girls/women about girls/women (in the main - there are significant male characters but they are less prominent.) At its heart, it is about how tragedy can destroy families and the power of love, friendship and forgiveness.
The ending, though not unexpected in some ways, has a satisfying emotional resolution and one memorably strange, magical moment.
I'd highly recommend Ghostbird if you enjoy something refreshingly different and gorgeously written. Ms Lovekin's next novel Snow Sisters is out now, I hear. I can't wait to get my hands on it.
NOTE: I was sent a copy of the book from the author as the reward for my bid in the Writers For Grenfell tower fire fundraiser earlier this year.
November 12, 2018
The story is set in a Welsh village. Fourteen year old Cadi and her mother, Violet, live next door to Violet’s sister-in-law, Lili, Lilwen Hopkins. The Hopkins family have a long history in the village, while Violet is, and always has been, an outsider.
Secrets and lies haunt the lives of the three women. Cadi wants the truth about her father’s death and the loss of her sister, Dora, but neither Lili nor her mother will tell her.
When Owen Pendry arrives in the village, Violet is shaken. Old memories awaken to haunt her. Lili asks him to leave, but he wants to speak to Violet.
All the while, Cadi is visited by the ghost of her four year old sister who is confused and scared. Cadi is frustrated by the secrets being kept from her.
Let’s get my gripes out of the way first…the middle of the book lacked pace for me and I found myself skimming to get to the action, but I’m an impatient reader, and that’s why some of the repeated references led me to more skimming. My only other niggle was the speed of Violet’s change of heart. It was a bit sudden for me.
However, the characters are well formed and their background unfolds throughout the story. The story is an interesting one, inviting the reader into the small, intense world of a village community. The characters grow throughout the book, believable and rounded, enabling the reader to have opinions and form attachments or dislikes to them.
But the best bit is, Ghostbird resounds with whispers of ghosts and tales of the past, mixed with Welsh myth and set against the backdrop of the Welsh countryside, so how could it be anything but magical?
Secrets and lies haunt the lives of the three women. Cadi wants the truth about her father’s death and the loss of her sister, Dora, but neither Lili nor her mother will tell her.
When Owen Pendry arrives in the village, Violet is shaken. Old memories awaken to haunt her. Lili asks him to leave, but he wants to speak to Violet.
All the while, Cadi is visited by the ghost of her four year old sister who is confused and scared. Cadi is frustrated by the secrets being kept from her.
Let’s get my gripes out of the way first…the middle of the book lacked pace for me and I found myself skimming to get to the action, but I’m an impatient reader, and that’s why some of the repeated references led me to more skimming. My only other niggle was the speed of Violet’s change of heart. It was a bit sudden for me.
However, the characters are well formed and their background unfolds throughout the story. The story is an interesting one, inviting the reader into the small, intense world of a village community. The characters grow throughout the book, believable and rounded, enabling the reader to have opinions and form attachments or dislikes to them.
But the best bit is, Ghostbird resounds with whispers of ghosts and tales of the past, mixed with Welsh myth and set against the backdrop of the Welsh countryside, so how could it be anything but magical?
June 26, 2023
The undergrowth began to draw in the light, making the air feel heavy. The sense of being observed deepened: something or someone wanted to be noticed. Nothing felt familiar. [loc. 334]
Cadi lives in a Welsh village with her mother Violet and her aunt Lili. In the village, in August, it rains every day. In the village, nobody will tell Cadi about her dead father or her dead sister. ('Who knew whether or not Lilwen Hopkins, daughter of a witch woman, hadn’t bound their mouths with threads of silence?') But her sister's coming to haunt her, owls and flowers, and Cadi can't stay away from the lake at the end of the lane.
This is a claustrophobic and sometimes unnerving tale of the bonds, and the grievances, between the three women. Violet is still mourning her lost daughter Dora (who her husband Teilo insisted on naming Blodeuwedd) and won't talk to Cadi about any of it. Lili, Teilo's sister, has 'an eye for the girls' and tends to side with Cadi against Violet. And Cadi, who's fourteen, is caught in the middle of it all, feathers and leaves on her bedroom floor, the choking scent of meadowsweet, and a stranger named Owen Penry who's come to the village and set the gossips' tongues wagging.
This novel has something of the atmosphere of Garner's The Owl Service, though it's a much gentler book, and the protagonists are all female. Indeed, there are few male characters in Ghostbird: Violet the widow who doesn't remember her father; Lili the woman who will never marry but perhaps has a hope, by the end, of love; Cadi, who grew up fatherless and doesn't seem to have any male friends, though she is very close to her schoolmate Cerys. The village is shaped by women: the gossips, and the rainmaker, whose vengeance against 'naysayers' was to make it rain every day in August. And there is the ghost of a small girl, who 'has stopped wanting to eat chocolate and forgotten what pasta tastes like. Instead, she hunts mice until dawn.' I'd have liked more about the rainmaker, who was a shadowy presence at the edges of the novel, but that vague presence adds to the atmosphere: often eerie, sometimes magical, seldom explained. Ghostbird is dreamy and hypnotic, and I found myself falling easily into its rhythms and language: I'll look out for more of Lovekin's fiction.
Fulfils the ‘Title beginning with G’ rubric of the 52 books in 2023 challenge.
April 3, 2018
Sometimes a book resonates with an emotional response you didn’t expect, but it draws you in and you fall in love – Carol Lovekin’s Ghostbird does just that.
This is the tale of Cadi, who doesn’t know who she is. She’s never been told anything about her father, she can taste the cloying secrets, and she is determined to uncover and break the spells about her. Her mother, Violet, is distant and lost, and her aunt, Lili, is bound by a promise she desperately wants to break. The Hopkins women are well known in their little Welsh village, and they are surrounded by a cloak of mystery, flowers, magic, and a little bit of local scandal.
Carol Lovekin’s writing enthralled me, from beginning to end. She writes with poetic leaning, creating beauty and an enticing story. The story has an ethereal quality and this is even more prevalent with the inclusion of the ghostbird of the title. This book unravels the secrets regarding the Hopkins women with a little myth and magic along the way.
My parting words for Ghostbird are that so often I read sentences that just spoke to me, that described my own feelings, my own experiences, and it’s not often that an author can climb inside your head and touch you. This book touched my heart, the vulnerable bits and the happy bits.
This is the tale of Cadi, who doesn’t know who she is. She’s never been told anything about her father, she can taste the cloying secrets, and she is determined to uncover and break the spells about her. Her mother, Violet, is distant and lost, and her aunt, Lili, is bound by a promise she desperately wants to break. The Hopkins women are well known in their little Welsh village, and they are surrounded by a cloak of mystery, flowers, magic, and a little bit of local scandal.
Carol Lovekin’s writing enthralled me, from beginning to end. She writes with poetic leaning, creating beauty and an enticing story. The story has an ethereal quality and this is even more prevalent with the inclusion of the ghostbird of the title. This book unravels the secrets regarding the Hopkins women with a little myth and magic along the way.
My parting words for Ghostbird are that so often I read sentences that just spoke to me, that described my own feelings, my own experiences, and it’s not often that an author can climb inside your head and touch you. This book touched my heart, the vulnerable bits and the happy bits.
February 12, 2024
This review may contain some spoilers.
The Vibe: small welsh village, gossipy locals, magical realism, everyday magic, family secrets, small town, LGBTQ+ subplot
The Style: beautiful prose, standalone, multiple POVs, character driven, coming of age
Trigger Warnings: child neglect, child death, suicide, depression
From the very first page Ghostbird captured my imagination. The prose is so beautifully crafted that it felt special from the start. As I said my my last review, I’m always looking for the next Practical Magic, and this novel is the closest to Alice Hoffman’s gorgeous writing style that I’ve yet come across. I highlighted so many quotes during my read through that it was hard to choose just three to include in this review.
The plot revolves around Cadi, a fourteen year old girl who desperately wants a deeper understanding of her past, and primarily of her father and sister who both died in circumstances that her mother refuses to disclose. Violet, Cadi’s mother, is very clearly depressed and a rather cold woman, so Cadi spends a lot of time at the house next door where her aunt Lilli, her father’s sister, lives in a gorgeous witchy cottage that has been in their family for generations. Violet has forbidden Lilli from sharing any details about the family history with Cadi, which all comes to a head over the course of the story. Living in a small Welsh village where gossip is rife doesn’t help matters; Cadi knows that everyone else is privy to her business and is further alienated by this fact. Lovekin’s prose envelopes us in this world, at times both magical and aching with loneliness.
"The rain whispered against the window. A shiver ran down Cadi’s back, and for a second she saw her ghost-face in the glass. This time it was made of meadowsweet and lavender, and a solitary tea towel left hanging on the washing line."
There are a number of references to character’s reflections in the story, a device which I found added to the introspective tone with a somewhat magical touch. Cadi feels like part of herself is missing; she doesn’t really know who she is, and frequently examines herself as a ghostly form in windows and screens, part-girl, part-background. She can’t be a fully realised person until she understands why her mother is so cold, how her father died and what happened to her sister.
Cadi’s aunt Lilli (short for Lilwen) desperately wants to help her niece understand her families’ past, but holds true to the promise she made to her sister in law and doesn’t spill the beans. Lilli is the witchiest character in the story, and also the most likeable. (Honestly, I found myself enjoying her subplot more than the main storyline.) Amongst Lilli’s overgrown witches’ garden, in Cadi’s lonely bedroom, and the mysterious lake that she is drawn to, the family history begins to unfold.
Lovekin really captures small internal moments that we all experience beautifully; “Light like bee pollen caught in the fine hairs on her bare arm.” I seriously can’t explain how gorgeous her prose is. She also utilises a literary device that I can’t help but love by making use of weather and nature to punctuate dramatic moments or plot points. Frequent unseen bird calls, and a silent barn owl (or ghost-bird), increase the mystery as Cadi begins seeing a ghostly little girl in and around her house.
"A place this old must surely be a few parts magic, and who knew what ancient charms clung to the brickwork? Old wisdom attached itself, collected in puddles, slipped under eaves and down chimneys. Wild magic loitered in lanes, cunning as magpies. If it danced by the door, the village knew the wisest move was to drop the latch. Myths were entwined with reality as tightly as the honeysuckle around the cottage doors."
One of my favourite features of Ghostbird was Lovekin’s use of Welsh phrases, like “cariad bach”, which translates as “little love”. I live pretty close to Wales myself but have very little knowledge of the language, so it was nice to learn some new words and phrases. I’m also obsessed with some of the Welsh names she included: Morwenna, Gwenllian, Pomona, Lilwen? So cute!
My one negative critique was Violet, and to a lesser extent Cadi’s, attitudes. They both got a little grating as the book went on. Now, I get where Cadi is coming from and she is only 14 years old, but Violet is at points almost irredeemably selfish and overly dramatic. I actually don’t think I’ve disliked a book character more, and that’s saying something. I understand that her past was difficult, but many of the trigger warnings for this book revolve around Violet, and her terrible treatment of her daughter. I feel that the frequent arguments around Cadi wanting to understand her past and Violet refusing to tell her got a bit repetetive, but that was my only real issue with an otherwise beautiful story. I won’t reveal any more of the plot here; it wouldn’t do the book justice. All I can say is, if you like the sound of gentle meadowsweet scents and awaking to a bedroom covered in myserious feathers and leaves, this novel is for you.
"From the first day of August until the last, it rained at least once a day in the village. When the sun broke through, people caught their breath, marvelled at the glimmer turning raindrops to treasure."
Lovekin’s writing is very special and this novel was a delight to read. I found myself scrolling her Goodreads profile and adding pretty much every other novel she’s written to my TBR list. If any of them are as magically written as Ghostbird, it will be well worth giving them a try.
Rating: 4 stars
The Vibe: small welsh village, gossipy locals, magical realism, everyday magic, family secrets, small town, LGBTQ+ subplot
The Style: beautiful prose, standalone, multiple POVs, character driven, coming of age
Trigger Warnings: child neglect, child death, suicide, depression
From the very first page Ghostbird captured my imagination. The prose is so beautifully crafted that it felt special from the start. As I said my my last review, I’m always looking for the next Practical Magic, and this novel is the closest to Alice Hoffman’s gorgeous writing style that I’ve yet come across. I highlighted so many quotes during my read through that it was hard to choose just three to include in this review.
The plot revolves around Cadi, a fourteen year old girl who desperately wants a deeper understanding of her past, and primarily of her father and sister who both died in circumstances that her mother refuses to disclose. Violet, Cadi’s mother, is very clearly depressed and a rather cold woman, so Cadi spends a lot of time at the house next door where her aunt Lilli, her father’s sister, lives in a gorgeous witchy cottage that has been in their family for generations. Violet has forbidden Lilli from sharing any details about the family history with Cadi, which all comes to a head over the course of the story. Living in a small Welsh village where gossip is rife doesn’t help matters; Cadi knows that everyone else is privy to her business and is further alienated by this fact. Lovekin’s prose envelopes us in this world, at times both magical and aching with loneliness.
"The rain whispered against the window. A shiver ran down Cadi’s back, and for a second she saw her ghost-face in the glass. This time it was made of meadowsweet and lavender, and a solitary tea towel left hanging on the washing line."
There are a number of references to character’s reflections in the story, a device which I found added to the introspective tone with a somewhat magical touch. Cadi feels like part of herself is missing; she doesn’t really know who she is, and frequently examines herself as a ghostly form in windows and screens, part-girl, part-background. She can’t be a fully realised person until she understands why her mother is so cold, how her father died and what happened to her sister.
Cadi’s aunt Lilli (short for Lilwen) desperately wants to help her niece understand her families’ past, but holds true to the promise she made to her sister in law and doesn’t spill the beans. Lilli is the witchiest character in the story, and also the most likeable. (Honestly, I found myself enjoying her subplot more than the main storyline.) Amongst Lilli’s overgrown witches’ garden, in Cadi’s lonely bedroom, and the mysterious lake that she is drawn to, the family history begins to unfold.
Lovekin really captures small internal moments that we all experience beautifully; “Light like bee pollen caught in the fine hairs on her bare arm.” I seriously can’t explain how gorgeous her prose is. She also utilises a literary device that I can’t help but love by making use of weather and nature to punctuate dramatic moments or plot points. Frequent unseen bird calls, and a silent barn owl (or ghost-bird), increase the mystery as Cadi begins seeing a ghostly little girl in and around her house.
"A place this old must surely be a few parts magic, and who knew what ancient charms clung to the brickwork? Old wisdom attached itself, collected in puddles, slipped under eaves and down chimneys. Wild magic loitered in lanes, cunning as magpies. If it danced by the door, the village knew the wisest move was to drop the latch. Myths were entwined with reality as tightly as the honeysuckle around the cottage doors."
One of my favourite features of Ghostbird was Lovekin’s use of Welsh phrases, like “cariad bach”, which translates as “little love”. I live pretty close to Wales myself but have very little knowledge of the language, so it was nice to learn some new words and phrases. I’m also obsessed with some of the Welsh names she included: Morwenna, Gwenllian, Pomona, Lilwen? So cute!
My one negative critique was Violet, and to a lesser extent Cadi’s, attitudes. They both got a little grating as the book went on. Now, I get where Cadi is coming from and she is only 14 years old, but Violet is at points almost irredeemably selfish and overly dramatic. I actually don’t think I’ve disliked a book character more, and that’s saying something. I understand that her past was difficult, but many of the trigger warnings for this book revolve around Violet, and her terrible treatment of her daughter. I feel that the frequent arguments around Cadi wanting to understand her past and Violet refusing to tell her got a bit repetetive, but that was my only real issue with an otherwise beautiful story. I won’t reveal any more of the plot here; it wouldn’t do the book justice. All I can say is, if you like the sound of gentle meadowsweet scents and awaking to a bedroom covered in myserious feathers and leaves, this novel is for you.
"From the first day of August until the last, it rained at least once a day in the village. When the sun broke through, people caught their breath, marvelled at the glimmer turning raindrops to treasure."
Lovekin’s writing is very special and this novel was a delight to read. I found myself scrolling her Goodreads profile and adding pretty much every other novel she’s written to my TBR list. If any of them are as magically written as Ghostbird, it will be well worth giving them a try.
Rating: 4 stars
September 24, 2017
this is a stunning read. I am in awe of Lovekin's use of imagery, metaphor, language and description. I love the pace, the structure, the characters and the way she explores issues and the secrets of the past in such a mesmerising and hypnotising way. Lovekin's writing is full of Welsh magic and I really enjoy the way she weaves in the Welsh cultural heritage through her writing and compelling characters.
If you love something a little different, a story that is full of engaging characters then this is the book for you. If you want to be whisked away into a world of lyrical prose, poetic metaphors and impressive, well crafted writing, then this is the book for you. I recommend!
If you love something a little different, a story that is full of engaging characters then this is the book for you. If you want to be whisked away into a world of lyrical prose, poetic metaphors and impressive, well crafted writing, then this is the book for you. I recommend!
June 22, 2023
I loved this book! I think Lovekin captured the imagery of nature so beautifully and intensely I felt at times I was in the book. It was wonderful to be a part of the world she created.
The subtle, but not stigmatising, addition of Lili’s love story was magical and inspiring - tastefully done in my opinion. I wish representation of love like this could be replicated in other books.
I felt nearer the end I didn’t want to put it down but I didn’t want the book to end! It was such a lovely pocket of magic and I would definitely read again and recommend to others.
The subtle, but not stigmatising, addition of Lili’s love story was magical and inspiring - tastefully done in my opinion. I wish representation of love like this could be replicated in other books.
I felt nearer the end I didn’t want to put it down but I didn’t want the book to end! It was such a lovely pocket of magic and I would definitely read again and recommend to others.
July 18, 2017
Really enjoyed it, especially towards the end. The middle bit bored me slightly which is why this is only 4/5, but I loved the characters dearly. Lili and Pomona 💓😭 and Cerys and Cadi 💓😊 Really good!
Read
June 7, 2019Engaging tale of three women wrestling with secrets from the past. The depiction of their relationship is very strong. At first I didn't care for the 'ghost' element but it made sense later as part of the narrative.
Full review to follow .....
Full review to follow .....
October 7, 2017
Spellbinding! Loved this story, its characters, and the setting of rural, magical Wales. Congrats Carol Lovekin, and Honno Press.
June 21, 2020
My favourite quote; “A girl with birds in her eyes ought to be able to see to the other side of the sky.”
A lovely emotional story about a young girl who tries to unravel the truth about her lost father and sister. A heartwarming tale that shares the importance of forgiveness, will make you believe in the afterlife and will make you cherish the precious moments you have with your loved ones.
Cadi is a young girl who grew up without her father and sister in a cottage called Ty Aderyn: the house of birds. They both passed away before she was born but it seems only her mother and aunt know the real truth and refuse to give her any information about what they were like and how they died. The only thing Cadi knows, is that it has some connection to the forbidden lake at the back of the cottage.
Her troubled mother, Violet, can’t let go of the past and continues to hide behind her grief by trying to remove the memories of Teilo and Dora from their lives. Lili, Cadi’s aunt, has been dragged into the secrets Violet has kept from her daughter which makes life at Ty Aderyn all the more difficult.
When Cadi escapes to the lake, a childs bracelet appears in the water and suddenly she finds herself haunted by her 4 year old sister. Determined more than ever, to find out what happened, she starts her journey to discover the truth behind the deaths that ripped her family apart.
Carol Lovekin allows you chance to fall in love with each character along the way. Cadi is passionately intelligent for a 14 year old and you can forgive her childness for the need to know who she is and answers to the story kept from her. She doesn’t have a lot of friends to share her frustration and communicating with her mother seems almost impossible, so her aunt becomes her confidant. You can’t help but fight Cadi’s corner every step of the way to reveal the secrets kept from her.
Violet is a very troubled character who you can’t help but feel sorry for at times, but then want to throttle her a few pages along. She’s not had the best life, from being abandoned by her father and then mother, to marrying a man who wasn’t right for her, to losing a child and her husband within a space of a few months, to then finding out she is pregnant with a child she already resents. You can understand why Cadi prefers the company of her aunt when Violet actively dismisses Cadi’s feelings. You can also understand why Violet chooses to lock away her memories in a box under her bed.
Lili is my personal favourite character by simply being Lili. She is generous, calm, intelligent, friendly and takes life with a pinch of salt. The only mistake she has made is by making a promise to Violet which has proven to be more dangerous than what it is worth. She sympathises with Cadi and tries to keep the balance between her and her mother. With her upbeat attitude towards life, you can’t help but feel compassion to the situation she has been placed in.
The story includes brief perspectives of Dora as a young ghost, who spends the time trying to get the attention of her sister in a realm in which she alone exists amongst the birds. You don’t get to know Dora well whilst she is alive, but as a ghost you get to experience her loss and her desperation to be seen throughout the story which give a mournful atmosphere to the book. She has been cursed to become a bird, specifically an owl, which in turn, becomes her freedom.
My favourite quote just may happen to be the first line in the book, but I couldn’t remember a sentence that stood out so much and it felt so meaningful before I had even begun. When I finished the book, I went back to re-read the sentence again. For me, it summed up the book nicely.
All in all, a magical story that I’m glad fell into my lap. I would rate it 3/5 as a very good book, and would probably read again.
A lovely emotional story about a young girl who tries to unravel the truth about her lost father and sister. A heartwarming tale that shares the importance of forgiveness, will make you believe in the afterlife and will make you cherish the precious moments you have with your loved ones.
Cadi is a young girl who grew up without her father and sister in a cottage called Ty Aderyn: the house of birds. They both passed away before she was born but it seems only her mother and aunt know the real truth and refuse to give her any information about what they were like and how they died. The only thing Cadi knows, is that it has some connection to the forbidden lake at the back of the cottage.
Her troubled mother, Violet, can’t let go of the past and continues to hide behind her grief by trying to remove the memories of Teilo and Dora from their lives. Lili, Cadi’s aunt, has been dragged into the secrets Violet has kept from her daughter which makes life at Ty Aderyn all the more difficult.
When Cadi escapes to the lake, a childs bracelet appears in the water and suddenly she finds herself haunted by her 4 year old sister. Determined more than ever, to find out what happened, she starts her journey to discover the truth behind the deaths that ripped her family apart.
Carol Lovekin allows you chance to fall in love with each character along the way. Cadi is passionately intelligent for a 14 year old and you can forgive her childness for the need to know who she is and answers to the story kept from her. She doesn’t have a lot of friends to share her frustration and communicating with her mother seems almost impossible, so her aunt becomes her confidant. You can’t help but fight Cadi’s corner every step of the way to reveal the secrets kept from her.
Violet is a very troubled character who you can’t help but feel sorry for at times, but then want to throttle her a few pages along. She’s not had the best life, from being abandoned by her father and then mother, to marrying a man who wasn’t right for her, to losing a child and her husband within a space of a few months, to then finding out she is pregnant with a child she already resents. You can understand why Cadi prefers the company of her aunt when Violet actively dismisses Cadi’s feelings. You can also understand why Violet chooses to lock away her memories in a box under her bed.
Lili is my personal favourite character by simply being Lili. She is generous, calm, intelligent, friendly and takes life with a pinch of salt. The only mistake she has made is by making a promise to Violet which has proven to be more dangerous than what it is worth. She sympathises with Cadi and tries to keep the balance between her and her mother. With her upbeat attitude towards life, you can’t help but feel compassion to the situation she has been placed in.
The story includes brief perspectives of Dora as a young ghost, who spends the time trying to get the attention of her sister in a realm in which she alone exists amongst the birds. You don’t get to know Dora well whilst she is alive, but as a ghost you get to experience her loss and her desperation to be seen throughout the story which give a mournful atmosphere to the book. She has been cursed to become a bird, specifically an owl, which in turn, becomes her freedom.
My favourite quote just may happen to be the first line in the book, but I couldn’t remember a sentence that stood out so much and it felt so meaningful before I had even begun. When I finished the book, I went back to re-read the sentence again. For me, it summed up the book nicely.
All in all, a magical story that I’m glad fell into my lap. I would rate it 3/5 as a very good book, and would probably read again.
August 7, 2016
Ghostbird is one of the most exquisitely beautiful books that I’ve read in a really long time. It is written in such a way that I wanted to read it as slowly as I could savour every aspect of the story and to make it last as long as possible, I never wanted it to end.
This novel has an almost dream-like quality to it and the writing is so evocative, I could feel the dampness in the air and I could smell the rain as it was falling in the novel. I feel like I’ve been to the Hopkins’ family home and to the lake, I can picture them so vividly in my head. I can’t remember another novel that I’ve read in recent times where I felt like I was actually inside it, feeling everything. It is as if the magical nature of the novel has cast its own spell over me.
The complex relationship between the three females in this novel is fascinating. The idea of secrecy between two out of three and whether it’s ever okay to keep the secrets, and whether it’s ever okay to share someone else’s secret.
‘It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. We’re all in it now: dancing the same old dance, tripping over each other’s bloody red shoes’
The dynamic between Lily, Violet and Cadi was so believable; it was at times very tense to the point it radiated off the page and at other times, particularly between Lily and Cadi, the strong bond between them was clear. Relationships between women are often very taut, and especially so in this instance when Violet and Lily are sisters-in-law, not blood relatives, but still stuck living next door to each other, and Cadi who is Violet’s daughter but the relationship between them is strained and Cadi feels closer to her Aunt Lily. The past is haunting the three of them – two are haunted by what they know and one by what no one will tell her.
I adore Lovekin’s turns of phrase throughout this novel. She is very creative with how her sentences are put together and with the words she uses. The writing has such a poetic and lyrical quality.
‘She smelled of roses and secrets…’
I love the idea that a person can smell of secrets, that they are holding a feeling inside them that you sense so strongly it’s as if you can smell it. Wonderful!
‘She possessed a look of otherness, as if her eyes saw too far.’
This line resonated so strongly with me. It’s incredibly moving the idea that someone sees too far, that they are so trapped by how haunting the future feels that they can’t fully embrace living in the now.
I had to pause many times whilst reading this book to re-read a sentence or two because I really wanted to make sure I absorbed the wonderful language used. There are so many sentences and passages in this novel that I highlighted because they were simply beautiful and I never want to forget them. The following line genuinely made me feel very emotional and it’s one of my favourite sentences in the novel:
‘…in August, when it rained so hard the drains overflowed, good dreams were washed away and no one could tell if you were crying’.
I rated this novel 5 out of 5 and I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough. As I said at the start of my review it is exquisitely beautiful – there aren’t enough superlatives to describe it; it’s simply a book not to be missed!
Ghostbird will now have pride of my place on my all-time favourites bookcase, both on my blog and in my home. My words cannot express how wonderful this novel is, but I can honestly say that it is a book I will treasure and one I all absolutely re-vist time and time again!
This novel has an almost dream-like quality to it and the writing is so evocative, I could feel the dampness in the air and I could smell the rain as it was falling in the novel. I feel like I’ve been to the Hopkins’ family home and to the lake, I can picture them so vividly in my head. I can’t remember another novel that I’ve read in recent times where I felt like I was actually inside it, feeling everything. It is as if the magical nature of the novel has cast its own spell over me.
The complex relationship between the three females in this novel is fascinating. The idea of secrecy between two out of three and whether it’s ever okay to keep the secrets, and whether it’s ever okay to share someone else’s secret.
‘It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. We’re all in it now: dancing the same old dance, tripping over each other’s bloody red shoes’
The dynamic between Lily, Violet and Cadi was so believable; it was at times very tense to the point it radiated off the page and at other times, particularly between Lily and Cadi, the strong bond between them was clear. Relationships between women are often very taut, and especially so in this instance when Violet and Lily are sisters-in-law, not blood relatives, but still stuck living next door to each other, and Cadi who is Violet’s daughter but the relationship between them is strained and Cadi feels closer to her Aunt Lily. The past is haunting the three of them – two are haunted by what they know and one by what no one will tell her.
I adore Lovekin’s turns of phrase throughout this novel. She is very creative with how her sentences are put together and with the words she uses. The writing has such a poetic and lyrical quality.
‘She smelled of roses and secrets…’
I love the idea that a person can smell of secrets, that they are holding a feeling inside them that you sense so strongly it’s as if you can smell it. Wonderful!
‘She possessed a look of otherness, as if her eyes saw too far.’
This line resonated so strongly with me. It’s incredibly moving the idea that someone sees too far, that they are so trapped by how haunting the future feels that they can’t fully embrace living in the now.
I had to pause many times whilst reading this book to re-read a sentence or two because I really wanted to make sure I absorbed the wonderful language used. There are so many sentences and passages in this novel that I highlighted because they were simply beautiful and I never want to forget them. The following line genuinely made me feel very emotional and it’s one of my favourite sentences in the novel:
‘…in August, when it rained so hard the drains overflowed, good dreams were washed away and no one could tell if you were crying’.
I rated this novel 5 out of 5 and I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough. As I said at the start of my review it is exquisitely beautiful – there aren’t enough superlatives to describe it; it’s simply a book not to be missed!
Ghostbird will now have pride of my place on my all-time favourites bookcase, both on my blog and in my home. My words cannot express how wonderful this novel is, but I can honestly say that it is a book I will treasure and one I all absolutely re-vist time and time again!
Read
September 7, 2016"‘You know more about magic then you let on, don’t you?’
‘Magic’s easy. It’s real life that’s complicated.’"
Hopkins women have always been secretive and, at present, there are three of them. Lilwen Hopkins is a Hopkins by blood, unlike her sister-in-law, Violet, who only came to the village in order to marry Lilwen’s brother, Teilo. Violet and Teilo’s 14-year-old daughter, Cadi, spends all her time trying to discover her family’s deepest, best kept and most frustrating secret–what happened to her father and youngest sister, of whom there are not even photographs. While Lilwen lives alone in the small cottage, Violet and Cadi live next door to her in the big one. Yet although the three women live in close proximity, each is a world unto herself, even Cadi keeps her own confidences, not wanting to share everything with her mother and aunt.
Lilwen was raised in the village under her mother, Gwenllian’s, guidance and is therefore familiar with all the old ways—how to keep a trailing jasmine alive in a climate ill-suited to it, what herbs act as the best salves for cuts and bruises and, most importantly, how to make herself invisible in order to ‘see’ others better. Yet although her ways are rooted in tradition, Lilwen is grounded in the present and spends much of her time looking after Cadi, as she’s done since Cadi was born. For Violet, her past is as important as—if not more important than—her present. Violet is largely absent from everyday life, doing only what is necessary to get from one day to another, unable to bear the pain of her past. It’s Violet’s silence, and Lilwen’s complicity in keeping Violet’s secrets, which brings about Cadi’s irrepressible desire to discover what happened to her family, a desire which, ultimately, leads Cadi to do things she wouldn’t otherwise do.
Lovekin’s story contains elements of magical realism and, in many ways, resembles a fairy tale. She uses stunning sensory detail to transport her readers to the small village in Wales where the story takes place. I could smell the over perfumed roses cut through with the occasional burst of meadowsweet, feel the wild winds and wet, hot August downpours, see the mysterious feathers and leaves which sometimes littered Cadi’s bedroom floor and, most importantly, empathise with her characters. In addition to this, Lovekin challenges the traditional notion of family—Violet, Cadi and Lilwen are very much a family, yet they are all women and none of them spends their time pining after men, nor do they define themselves in relation to men. I found this depiction to be refreshing as there are many families who consist entirely of women, for varying reasons. Lovekin’s writing shines with the difficult magic of female camaraderie, and with real magic as well, which is why when the Not the Booker shortlisting vote came around, I voted for Ghostbird.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Carol Lovekin’s stories in future.
‘Magic’s easy. It’s real life that’s complicated.’"
Hopkins women have always been secretive and, at present, there are three of them. Lilwen Hopkins is a Hopkins by blood, unlike her sister-in-law, Violet, who only came to the village in order to marry Lilwen’s brother, Teilo. Violet and Teilo’s 14-year-old daughter, Cadi, spends all her time trying to discover her family’s deepest, best kept and most frustrating secret–what happened to her father and youngest sister, of whom there are not even photographs. While Lilwen lives alone in the small cottage, Violet and Cadi live next door to her in the big one. Yet although the three women live in close proximity, each is a world unto herself, even Cadi keeps her own confidences, not wanting to share everything with her mother and aunt.
Lilwen was raised in the village under her mother, Gwenllian’s, guidance and is therefore familiar with all the old ways—how to keep a trailing jasmine alive in a climate ill-suited to it, what herbs act as the best salves for cuts and bruises and, most importantly, how to make herself invisible in order to ‘see’ others better. Yet although her ways are rooted in tradition, Lilwen is grounded in the present and spends much of her time looking after Cadi, as she’s done since Cadi was born. For Violet, her past is as important as—if not more important than—her present. Violet is largely absent from everyday life, doing only what is necessary to get from one day to another, unable to bear the pain of her past. It’s Violet’s silence, and Lilwen’s complicity in keeping Violet’s secrets, which brings about Cadi’s irrepressible desire to discover what happened to her family, a desire which, ultimately, leads Cadi to do things she wouldn’t otherwise do.
Lovekin’s story contains elements of magical realism and, in many ways, resembles a fairy tale. She uses stunning sensory detail to transport her readers to the small village in Wales where the story takes place. I could smell the over perfumed roses cut through with the occasional burst of meadowsweet, feel the wild winds and wet, hot August downpours, see the mysterious feathers and leaves which sometimes littered Cadi’s bedroom floor and, most importantly, empathise with her characters. In addition to this, Lovekin challenges the traditional notion of family—Violet, Cadi and Lilwen are very much a family, yet they are all women and none of them spends their time pining after men, nor do they define themselves in relation to men. I found this depiction to be refreshing as there are many families who consist entirely of women, for varying reasons. Lovekin’s writing shines with the difficult magic of female camaraderie, and with real magic as well, which is why when the Not the Booker shortlisting vote came around, I voted for Ghostbird.
I’m looking forward to reading more of Carol Lovekin’s stories in future.
April 15, 2016
This review was first published on my blog on 29th March. You can find it here.
The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous. It’s full of mystery and intrigue, and having now read the book, really feel it fits too. After seeing the cover, it was the synopsis that got me to read the book. Which I am glad I did. It was a very unique and interesting story full of emotions, mystery and intrigue. While I had a few issues with it, I did overall like the book and would happily recommend it to others. Essentially this book left me feeling full of hope and happiness, and feeling like I had just finished a very magical book.
One of the first problems I had with this book is that it took me a while to get into it. It has a bit of a slow start and feels very confusing to begin with. This is, in most part, to do with the writing style of the author so eventually this got a lot easier to read as I got used to the style. The plot was very fascintating to read about and I loved following the story of the characters’ lives. I loved how it twisted and turned and how it all ended too. It was a really magical and moving story about family, friendship and love.
The characters in the book are all really well-written with intricate backgrounds and unique personalities. I found Cadi to be a very interesting character and I really connected with her as she struggled to understand where she came from and who that made her. I also really liked Lili. She was a fascinating character, strong and resiliant too. Caught in the middle of things and just wanting the best for her neice. And then there’s Violet who has so much burden on her shoulders and struggles to just get by. She’s done what she thinks is best but also what she can cope with. She was a very interesting character to read about. I loved how all the character journey’s came together at the end.
While this book wasn’t my favourite book, I did enjoy reading it and am still very glad that I did. I feel that some of the problem with my connection to the book stems from not coming from a Welsh background nor knowing much about Welsh communities. I also normally love ghost stories but really struggled with the ghost aspects of this book. I have a feeling it is stemmed in a Welsh myth and this, again, is not something I’m familiar with. However, saying that, I did love the way the ghost pulled the story forward and connected everything. I loved everything else about the story and was so moved by the ending. It did leave me feeling full of hope. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a unique story that is essentially uplifting and focuses on family.
The first thing that drew me to this book was the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous. It’s full of mystery and intrigue, and having now read the book, really feel it fits too. After seeing the cover, it was the synopsis that got me to read the book. Which I am glad I did. It was a very unique and interesting story full of emotions, mystery and intrigue. While I had a few issues with it, I did overall like the book and would happily recommend it to others. Essentially this book left me feeling full of hope and happiness, and feeling like I had just finished a very magical book.
One of the first problems I had with this book is that it took me a while to get into it. It has a bit of a slow start and feels very confusing to begin with. This is, in most part, to do with the writing style of the author so eventually this got a lot easier to read as I got used to the style. The plot was very fascintating to read about and I loved following the story of the characters’ lives. I loved how it twisted and turned and how it all ended too. It was a really magical and moving story about family, friendship and love.
The characters in the book are all really well-written with intricate backgrounds and unique personalities. I found Cadi to be a very interesting character and I really connected with her as she struggled to understand where she came from and who that made her. I also really liked Lili. She was a fascinating character, strong and resiliant too. Caught in the middle of things and just wanting the best for her neice. And then there’s Violet who has so much burden on her shoulders and struggles to just get by. She’s done what she thinks is best but also what she can cope with. She was a very interesting character to read about. I loved how all the character journey’s came together at the end.
While this book wasn’t my favourite book, I did enjoy reading it and am still very glad that I did. I feel that some of the problem with my connection to the book stems from not coming from a Welsh background nor knowing much about Welsh communities. I also normally love ghost stories but really struggled with the ghost aspects of this book. I have a feeling it is stemmed in a Welsh myth and this, again, is not something I’m familiar with. However, saying that, I did love the way the ghost pulled the story forward and connected everything. I loved everything else about the story and was so moved by the ending. It did leave me feeling full of hope. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a unique story that is essentially uplifting and focuses on family.
May 10, 2016
I really enjoyed this book; wanting to finish it so I knew what happened, and yet not to finish it.
A tale set in a Welsh village, weaving together threads of nature observations, peoples’ loves and mistakes, fairytales and ancient myths. It has its ghosts, but they are not your usual ghosts - but then this is not a usual tale. The writing is full of beautiful descriptions which made me want to go out and stand in my herb garden in the rain, have my windows opened wide, curl up in a chair with hot chocolate, go for moonlit walks or simply sit under a tree reading or by a lake. Simple descriptions like the wind smelling of lake water transported me, in the way only a good tale can. As a gardener, I of course loved the descriptions of Lili’s garden, and that being such a major place in the book.
There are characters you love instantly, and others that you grow to love as your understanding of their tale and journey unfolds through the book. Lili and Cadi are the former and Violet the latter. I loved that the lives of the characters were at once very unremarkable (school girl, jobs in a supermarket), and yet remarkable by other measures (magic, tragic events). The story unfolds to reveal secrets kept. Most were guessed at but that was not a problem for me, as I think the main point was that sometimes the things we think we keep as secrets are not really secrets at all.
The only negative (and I am really nit picking here) was that I found the minor character of Cerys, Cadi’s friend who is absent for much of the book, to be the least believable and fleshed out of the characters. Her dialogue just seemed to be that of an older character than that of a teenager.
The magic is simple, and in some ways so it this tale, but both have effects beyond this story. For me this is brought home by the quote “If you have to start living a new life half way through the one you thought you had, the only thing to do was to look upon it as an adventure.”
This book as also inspired me to go and re-read The Mabinogion (or Mabinogi)!
A tale set in a Welsh village, weaving together threads of nature observations, peoples’ loves and mistakes, fairytales and ancient myths. It has its ghosts, but they are not your usual ghosts - but then this is not a usual tale. The writing is full of beautiful descriptions which made me want to go out and stand in my herb garden in the rain, have my windows opened wide, curl up in a chair with hot chocolate, go for moonlit walks or simply sit under a tree reading or by a lake. Simple descriptions like the wind smelling of lake water transported me, in the way only a good tale can. As a gardener, I of course loved the descriptions of Lili’s garden, and that being such a major place in the book.
There are characters you love instantly, and others that you grow to love as your understanding of their tale and journey unfolds through the book. Lili and Cadi are the former and Violet the latter. I loved that the lives of the characters were at once very unremarkable (school girl, jobs in a supermarket), and yet remarkable by other measures (magic, tragic events). The story unfolds to reveal secrets kept. Most were guessed at but that was not a problem for me, as I think the main point was that sometimes the things we think we keep as secrets are not really secrets at all.
The only negative (and I am really nit picking here) was that I found the minor character of Cerys, Cadi’s friend who is absent for much of the book, to be the least believable and fleshed out of the characters. Her dialogue just seemed to be that of an older character than that of a teenager.
The magic is simple, and in some ways so it this tale, but both have effects beyond this story. For me this is brought home by the quote “If you have to start living a new life half way through the one you thought you had, the only thing to do was to look upon it as an adventure.”
This book as also inspired me to go and re-read The Mabinogion (or Mabinogi)!
March 23, 2016
Fourteen year old Cadi Hopkins has grown up with her mother Violet and her Aunt Lili who live next door to each other in the village. A tragic accident claimed Cadi's older sister Dora when she was four. Shortly after this, Violet's husband Teilo was killed in a car crash. Her mother has never got over the loss of her elder daughter and husband, nor has she coped with the fact that shortly after Teilo's death she found herself pregnant with Cadi.Her relationship with her daughter is therefore distant and lacking in any emotion. Lili is the one who provides the love and support and Cadi very often takes refuge with her aunt. someone she can talk to. As she grows neither her mother or aunt will tell her the truth about what really happened to her father and sister. Emotionally damaged Violet has chosen to deliberately bury the past and has sworn Lili to secrecy. All Cadi hears besides the whispers in the village is her mother's constant warning to keep away from the lake. This summer, however, she is determined to discover what happened. Voices and ghostly occurrences together with the return of someone from her mother's past all become part of her journey to find the truth.
This book has many component parts. First it is mysterious, filled with family secrets. Secondly it is mystical - Cadi's connection with her dead sister's spirit - a fledgling owl and the Ghost Bird of the title. And thirdly and perhaps most importantly, it a very human story about the damage we do to ourselves and others through our sometimes misguided beliefs. Happily Cadi's quest for the truth brings eventual redemption for both the living and the dead.
Beautifully written it pulled me in from the very first page. It would make a great movie.
A magical and emotional read fully deserving of my five star award.
I would like to thank Honno Publishing for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book has many component parts. First it is mysterious, filled with family secrets. Secondly it is mystical - Cadi's connection with her dead sister's spirit - a fledgling owl and the Ghost Bird of the title. And thirdly and perhaps most importantly, it a very human story about the damage we do to ourselves and others through our sometimes misguided beliefs. Happily Cadi's quest for the truth brings eventual redemption for both the living and the dead.
Beautifully written it pulled me in from the very first page. It would make a great movie.
A magical and emotional read fully deserving of my five star award.
I would like to thank Honno Publishing for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
March 28, 2016
The cover of this book drew me in at first glimpse it seemed to emanate a ghostly aura little did I know it is actually very fitting and the more you gaze at it the intenser it becomes.
Primarily a story about three female lead characters, Violet, her 14 year old daughter Cadi and her aunt Lilli. So much tragedy has befallen this family, the death of Dora and Teilo (sister and father of Cadi) there are secrets that lurk which Cadi knows are being withheld from her.
It’s set in a tiny Welsh village where rumours run abound all Cadi knows is her mother insists she stays away from the lake. She hears so many whispers but is intent on learning the truth. The relationship between Violet and Cadi is strained, Aunt Lilli is the one she turns to for comfort meanwhile Lilli is also holding the answer to Violet’s secret.
The writing is almost majestic I loved the way feelings could be evoked by scents of flowers/herbs. The rain which always falls in August is pivotal to the story and once absorbed in the book you can virtually feel the dampness on your skin. It took a little while for me to get into the rhythm of the story but once entrenched I was in the zone. The tension between the women at times was palpable, the ghostly hauntings believable and almost a comfort. The whole ambience unique.
There are so many wonderful examples of poetic writing that will remain with me. Because of my blog name I loved the sentence: “Oh we’re that brave, Violet, dragons are scared of us.”
A marvellous example of a novel that is mystical, examines human resilience and finally redemption. Absolutely beautiful, charming and a delight to read. I think I may need to read it again to fully comprehend and appreciate the intricacies.
“A secret’s only a secret until two people know…..” “Ghosts only appear to the living if they think it is worth their while”
Thank you so much to the author and Honno Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.
Primarily a story about three female lead characters, Violet, her 14 year old daughter Cadi and her aunt Lilli. So much tragedy has befallen this family, the death of Dora and Teilo (sister and father of Cadi) there are secrets that lurk which Cadi knows are being withheld from her.
It’s set in a tiny Welsh village where rumours run abound all Cadi knows is her mother insists she stays away from the lake. She hears so many whispers but is intent on learning the truth. The relationship between Violet and Cadi is strained, Aunt Lilli is the one she turns to for comfort meanwhile Lilli is also holding the answer to Violet’s secret.
The writing is almost majestic I loved the way feelings could be evoked by scents of flowers/herbs. The rain which always falls in August is pivotal to the story and once absorbed in the book you can virtually feel the dampness on your skin. It took a little while for me to get into the rhythm of the story but once entrenched I was in the zone. The tension between the women at times was palpable, the ghostly hauntings believable and almost a comfort. The whole ambience unique.
There are so many wonderful examples of poetic writing that will remain with me. Because of my blog name I loved the sentence: “Oh we’re that brave, Violet, dragons are scared of us.”
A marvellous example of a novel that is mystical, examines human resilience and finally redemption. Absolutely beautiful, charming and a delight to read. I think I may need to read it again to fully comprehend and appreciate the intricacies.
“A secret’s only a secret until two people know…..” “Ghosts only appear to the living if they think it is worth their while”
Thank you so much to the author and Honno Publishing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.
March 27, 2016
This review will be fairly short, because I am writing it for people who are considering buying this book, and I don't want to give anything away here that should be discovered as you are meant to while you read it. Instead, I will just be explaining why I think it is such a good story.
Ghostbird is indeed a ghost story, but it is not your typical ghost story of spooks or terror, because the ghost takes her place as a character among the others rather than being a mere plot device. Many ghosts in stories bear no resemblance to the people they were supposed to have been, but this one is still herself, only on the part of her journey that is after her death. I find this very refreshing.
There is a certain looming urgency to the plot, a sense that, just as time is ripening for what must be done, it may be just in time and at the same time, too late. And yet things must happen as they are meant to and cannot be rushed. This creates a delicious tension that pulls the reader along. Everything is knit together skillfully. The plot, pacing, place, main characters and side characters are all in balance. It is intricately driven by characters who have been shaped by their pasts and the Welsh village where they live by the lake. The characters have to do a lot of growing and changing, and they keep their consistency and internal logic as they do.
I loved the perspective of this book, the regard for people's struggles and how they got to be the way they are, the everyday magic, the fact that it has a real sense of place that the reader can enter into and yet take something away with them when they are done. This is a book I will be reading again.
Ghostbird is indeed a ghost story, but it is not your typical ghost story of spooks or terror, because the ghost takes her place as a character among the others rather than being a mere plot device. Many ghosts in stories bear no resemblance to the people they were supposed to have been, but this one is still herself, only on the part of her journey that is after her death. I find this very refreshing.
There is a certain looming urgency to the plot, a sense that, just as time is ripening for what must be done, it may be just in time and at the same time, too late. And yet things must happen as they are meant to and cannot be rushed. This creates a delicious tension that pulls the reader along. Everything is knit together skillfully. The plot, pacing, place, main characters and side characters are all in balance. It is intricately driven by characters who have been shaped by their pasts and the Welsh village where they live by the lake. The characters have to do a lot of growing and changing, and they keep their consistency and internal logic as they do.
I loved the perspective of this book, the regard for people's struggles and how they got to be the way they are, the everyday magic, the fact that it has a real sense of place that the reader can enter into and yet take something away with them when they are done. This is a book I will be reading again.
August 8, 2016
Carol Lovekin's style of writing is exquisite, she brings to life the fairy tale quality of rural Wales and weaves it in the lives of her characters with her own brand of magic.
The author's understanding of complicated family relationships is impressive as she presents us with a frustrated teenager who isn't being portrayed as a brat, a mother being buried under the weight of her own depression and a woman who never intended to be a parent but is not playing a pivotal role in raising her niece.
Throughout the course of the novel, we see parts of the story through the eyes of each of these women and the beauty of it is that there's no judgement on how they've behaved and decided to deal with their past - we only see the consequences as they all try to muddle through together.
This book is most definitely about love, but very little of it is romantic love. It's about the different kinds of love that women can have for each other and simply beautiful to read.
If you can, set yourself some time aside to savour this book and arrange a book date for yourself to fully appreciate it.
The author's understanding of complicated family relationships is impressive as she presents us with a frustrated teenager who isn't being portrayed as a brat, a mother being buried under the weight of her own depression and a woman who never intended to be a parent but is not playing a pivotal role in raising her niece.
Throughout the course of the novel, we see parts of the story through the eyes of each of these women and the beauty of it is that there's no judgement on how they've behaved and decided to deal with their past - we only see the consequences as they all try to muddle through together.
This book is most definitely about love, but very little of it is romantic love. It's about the different kinds of love that women can have for each other and simply beautiful to read.
If you can, set yourself some time aside to savour this book and arrange a book date for yourself to fully appreciate it.
November 2, 2016
This is my kind of book – the intricate exploration of painful consequences, rather than an explosion of big drama. In a claustrophobic Welsh village, a 4-year-old tragically drowned and, 14 years on, she is still bitterly mourned by her mother, her aunt and the young sister who never had a chance to know her. Cadi wants the truth about her sister and her father, but aunt and deeply damaged mother are infuriatingly determined to keep her in the dark. The owl ghost of the lost child is taking shape, laying claim to Cadi and wanting something from her. Adolescence is a haunting time. Beautifully written, the settings drawn with the skill of a ghostbird
June 15, 2016
I have no words. At least nothing compared to what you can find in Ghostbird. When I'm reading this book, it's like I'm in Wales. The style of writing is just so melodic, so entrancing, you don't want to put it down, and the entwining relationships of the women in the story feel as familiar as if they were neighbors. They're familiar because they are each of us, each dealing with life, love, and tragedy in her own way. I've struggled to get back into reading ever since grad school, and Ghostbird reminded me why the written word is so important. Read it.
April 3, 2016
oh my gosh what a stunningly beautiful read this is. full of Celtic legends superstitions and magic. the story revolves around three women sisters in law Lili and Violet and Violet's daughter Cadi. all of them have secrets but Cadi is trying to learn the truth about her father and find her lost sister Dora the Ghostbird. beautifully written the writing flowed like music. had tears in my eyes for large parts.
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