Serendipity

by Sarah Bryant

Her first love was the wind. Pre-speech she followed it to the shore, a sickle of platinum sand between two granite monoliths. Its thrusting curve held her as a mother's arms might have, as it held the crooning waves and crying birds, the bladderwrack strewn like entrails among beached jellyfish and sanded glass. On cloudy days she stood and let its magisterial sorrow wash over her; when the sun shone she chased it, laughing. When she was old enough she tied her skirt between her legs and climbed the rocks, to feel its heady edge as it tried to tear her down. Later, battered by a longing she could neither trace nor name, she would wade out into the sea until its ancient cold numbed her body and then reach out to embrace the wind. And one day, when she'd left that beach far behind, she would realize that during those half-forgotten days of her earliest childhood, the wind's soul had blown into hers, rending it to tatters, knotting them again with its own fingers so that it would never quite leave her. Knowing that, she would come to peace at last. But there were many days to live through before that one.

Genres: Fiction

688 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2011

About the author

Sarah Bryant (born 1973 in Brunswick, Maine, USA, is a contemporary British based writer.

She attended Brown University in Rhode Island before moving to Scotland in 1996 to study creative writing at the University of St. Andrews. She settled in the UK after meeting her husband and now lives in the Scottish Borders region where along with writing she doubles as a teacher of Celtic harp, and occasionally triples as a printmaker.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. It’s hard to describe but ultimately it’s a love story that takes a life time to happen.

[Eulalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was enchanted by this book, much to my suprise as it is very different to my normal run of whodunnits. I was initially attracted to the book because of the sea, which is a ceasless back story to the book and calls to me the same way it does to Silence.
The characters are cleverly written and they capture your imagination in a suble but tenacious way. The storyline is multifacteted and exceedingly well researched; the plots weaves it's way through the stark landscape of post civil war America showing the undaunted spirit of the time without being too heavy or fact-laden. This keeps the pace moving gradually towards a satisfying climax that brought tears to my eyes.
There were aspects of the book that I didn't fully grasp, as if - to paraphrase the author " I had been given something important that I didn't quite understand" but that didn't attract from my enjoyment of the book at all.
Having finished it I now feel somewhat bereft, which is the mark of an excellent book in my opinion - hence the 5 stars.

[Rebecca Cartwright-Teakle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review
This book started off well and I loved the weaving of the stories but I felt that it could have done with a good edit to make it a really good book. The characters and stories were interesting but I felt that it was sometimes a bit repetitive and went on for too long. There were parts of Meredith’s story where I felt like we were just covering old ground.
Overall a good book and it is clear that Sarah Bryant is a good writer (the story reminded me slightly of Anita Shreve) but it was slightly disappointing because of the wasted potential and the fact that this could so easily have been a great book.

Favourite character
Meredith Macfarlane

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it had a magical feel to it with the two narrative strands complimenting each other. There was a sense of adventure and to use the title of the book - serendipity - in Meredith's journey and Silence's life. I had pictures in my mind of all the characters, places and events. It was an emotional read.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author writes really well. I cannot say the same for the editor. So many mistakes! I usually put the book down when there are that many jarring errors. The story was compelling and I guess that is what matters in the end.

[Anke · Rating 3 out of 5]

finally finished! bit boring and too long... not really interesting story...