Play Book Tag discussion

Whale Fall - Elizabeth O’Connor
Audio performance with multiple readers
4 stars

This was a melancholy little book. It is set on a remote Welsh island in 1938. The story takes place over the course of one year and is mostly told by a young woman named Manod. As the story begins, we learn that Manod has finished the little schooling that was available to her, and she is responsible for the care of her young sister following the apparently tragic death of their mother. Their father makes a marginal living as a lobsterman.

Two events dominate island life during this year. A whale washes up on the shores of the island. Despite attempts to return it to the sea, the animal dies and subsequently decays. At almost the same time the village receives two English visitors; young ethnographers. Manod is hired to translate for them. Manod is initially flattered and anxious to please these educated strangers. She is stimulated by this exposure to the outside world, becoming even more determined to leave the island. There is inevitable disappointment and disillusionment. The author treats Manod’s intellect and experience with respect. Her English characters do not.

This was a very atmospheric book. I could hear the waves crashing the shore and smell the decaying whale. It’s rare that a book can actually put me in a place that I’ve never seen. O’Conner’s novella did exactly that. It’s clearly no accident that Manod’s pivotal year is set within a world well on its way to a second global war. The symbolism is clear without being heavy handed. I was aware of the ominous foreshadowing without leaving the immediacy of Manod’s experience.

It was entirely accidental that I’d recently reread The Samurai's Garden before I began this book. What a perfect pairing of themes and events! It left me wishing for a book group (or, god forbid, a classroom) to talk about both books together.

The audiobook was very well done with multiple performers. The accents of the Welsh speakers were helpful and the ‘recordings’ of songs and folktales from the ethnographer’s records added realistic interest.

I really enjoyed this one, too. Yes, it's melancholy but the writing is just so good!