Well Linda has done it again! Another book I just couldn't put down - this author has become one of my all time favourites.

A beautifully told romantic story set in Scotland - and what could be more romantic than the Scottish islands!

The picture was originally going to be the blue cover I've uploaded to this Journal Entry (and the cover of this actual copy which is a proof copy from the publisher)...but the publishers then (unfortunately to my mind) changed it to the one shown above.


Click here to find out more about BookCrossing in the Oxford/Berkshire area

Off on a bookring....

Gingergeoff - UK
house-elfdobby - uk
beqi - uk
tregossip - uk
midlifecrisis - uk
annodyne - uk
inver - uk
bokwormy - portugal
peamartian - uk
sidney1 - uk
chelseagirl - uk
herrgirl = uk
beebarf - uk (has bought her own copy)
darkhorse4460 - uk
classicfox - us
pannykyn - us - here
bibliocrates - us
kobe03 - canada
Tori58 - US
Wandering-B - Hong Kong
mallary - France
oceanripples - uk

Received today in the post!

Many thanks, definitely my next read!

An amazing book from Linda Gillard. At first I thought that it would be hard to be convinved that the main carachter was blind and had none of the normal reference points of the sighted, but she carried it off perfectly. The way everything is translated into music or touch was astounding. Kier was an exellent hero! Hell, I'd probably marry him if I met him!

A great book, the only downside is that I finished it too quickly. Definitely a 10/10.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to House-elfdobby as she is next on the ring.

Hurrah, it's here! Thanks for posting it so quickly GingerGeoff and for sharing it Molyneux! Wil get stuck into it tonight!

Well although she drove me mad at times because she was so stubborn and crabbit, Marianne was a great character and it was clever writing to see the world from her point of view. Garth's accent drove me bonkers though - would have preferred him to be a wee Scots Goth.

I agree with gingergeoff - Kier was divine - have him washed and sent to my room immediately! But are there really men like Kier in this world?! Hmmmmm. Time to visit Skye methinks!

Another great read from Linda Gillard!

Thanks for including me on the ring - have pm'd beqi (in the UK) and she's on hols till almost the end of this month, so I thought I'd wait until a couple of days before she's back to post it, in case it goes amiss while she's gone. Hope that's ok Molyneux.

'Star Gazing' was waiting for me when I returned from holiday! I've started it already. Looking forward to cracking on through it as it seems to be a popular read. Many thanks for posting it on, house-elfdobby. Thanks also for including me on the ring Molyneux!

What a great book! I think I'll probably end up buying a copy of this just to keep as it's so beautifully written.

As Gingergeoff mentioned, I too wondered if it would be hard to be convinced of Marianne's blindess, but it *really* worked and the descriptions of certain scents and smells, and the feel of different textures such a tree bark, leaves etc.. really made me think that just looking at something is only part of the experience!

Marianne's sister Louise made me laugh. Good on her for falling for (the MUCH younger) Garth. But Keir was something else! What a lovely man. I think the way Marianne acted was really stupid, although I understand why she acted how she did. Things could have turned out so differently, which would be such a shame as she obviously loved him and I think he fell for her as soon as her met her.. Without giving too much away, I'm so glad things worked out well.

Isle of Skye sounds great! Maybe I could visit one day. I loved the description of the tree house too. I never had one as a child and I still want one...

I have copies of Linda's earlier two books, and so looking forward to reading them if they're even half as good as Star Gazing. Brilliant.

I already have an address for Tregossip so I'll get this in the post tomorrow, Monday 21st July.

Thanks for the book and note Becky, it arrived this morning and still looking brand new too. Currently reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, a big-un of 650 pages but such a page turner should soon be ready to start this one.

Certainly a 10/10, Linda Gillard just gets better and better.

I can't put it down but don't want it to end either, will be off to Midlifecrisis next week as have her address

(hey and a PM from the author too, how good does it get)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

off to Midlifecrisis

Received today and to be read as soon as I can. I have suddenly developed a pile of good stuff but will try not to take too long.

Thought provoking and beautifully written, esepcially the descriptions and translations of image into sound. I wanted to listen to some of the pieces of music referred to. But I found Marianne's spikiness and decisions a little hard to take. Keir was simply too divine to be true - would he really have put up with Marianne's acidity with such patience? This was an excellent, unputdownable read that I devoured in basically two sittings, but it did not leave me with quite the same satisfaction as A Lifetime Burning and Emotional Geology. I will get this on its way and journal again as soon as possible. Many thanks for including me.

Thank you midlifecrisis, it arrived today. Looking forward to reading this one; previous journal entries sound enthusiastic and positive! It will be going to London with me when I am on my hols next week. I'm going to need something engrossing for the long journey, and this might just fit the bill.

Great book! Once again Linda Gillard has come up with the goods, with her lovely lyrical style and sensitively drawn characters. I could have given that Marianne a slap though!

The next person after me, Inver, is lucky enough to have won her own copy, and has asked to be skipped, so I have posted straight on to bokwormy in Portugal today. Thank you to Molyneux for sharing.

Just received it in the post thanks to annodyne and a big thank-you to Molyneux for sharing it withe me :)

I've got a few bookrings TBR but I shall be quick!

This book was beautifully written. A different story from what I'm used to reading.

PMing next person on the list!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On the way to peamartian!

Received with thanks! I have another bookring book waiting for me before I get to read this one, but I should be on to it in a couple of weeks. I first read this book a couple of months ago, and I'm looking forward to reading it again...

I really enjoyed this book. This is the second time that I've read it, and I think I enjoyed it more second-time around. The JE I made the first time I read it is at:
http://bookcrossing.com/journal/6176271

Again, I found the characters really frustrating at times, but all the more human for that. I found the story arc very satisfying. This time around I made sure that I read the book more slowly, and drank in the descriptions of people and places. I am determined to try and think about all the other sensory impacts that things have on me, not just sight - I've had great fun this weekend thinking about the texture of the rain outside (I haven't been daring enough to go out and play in it though). I also really appreciated the detail given in the more scientific aspects of the book too (Northern Lights, etc).

Thanks for sharing!

I've PM'd the next person on the list... Waiting for a reply...

Received a couple of days ago, thank you. Have nearly finished it, as it is, indeed not easy to put the book down. Except when Marianne gets too annoying again ...

Well, of course this book is really a lot of tosh, romantic rubbish – but it’s still very captivating. The really strong point of Gillard’s writing is how she communicates a blind person’s world, the limitation in their perception, the way their world ends with their reach, with what they can touch. How do you explain a mountain range, a view of a wild sea, or even just a bird or other flighty animal to a person who can only experience through touch? In how far can music and sound replace sight?

The love story, although touching, is of course sentimental rubbish. There is no man like Keir, which means that the dialogues don’t ring true to me. Men cannot express their feelings so well, be that considerate, and still be so masculine. In a way, Louisa, Marianne’s author sister, sums it up nicely: “The men (in her books) have to be supernatural because frankly, a good hero is hard to come by”. This is exactly why Keir isn’t believable. But if you anyhow want the really romantic Scottish stuff, I highly recommend Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series – which I am sure Gillard knows, as the main character in that book happens to be called Jamie Fraser (!), like the baby to be. There’s also more – steamy but tasteful – sex in those books, which I missed here: if you’re writing in the romantic genre, then go all the way! Instead, we only hear about Keith and Marianne’s first night together afterwards, and only sketchily, while Louise’s fun with Garth is pure deduction on the reader’s behalf. Shame, really.

Have pm’d chelseagirl for her address.

It's interesting to read the different points of view about this novel - and this of course is the fun of bookrings!

I had to write another JE in response to Sidney1's review since I find it surprising that a writer of Gillard's calibre is dismissed as romantic tosh! Keir is perhaps a little too perfect – but his character is offset by the unpredictable Marianne, and the scene where the blind heroine is lost in the snow remains with me - the description so strong that it makes me feel cold when I think about it!

To compare this author's work with that of the Gabaldon (Outlander/Cross Stitch) made me smile - not a book I enjoyed at all and here is my review of that book which I wrote some years ago http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1605967

'Steamy sex scenes' would have spoiled this book for me – such a poetic work doesn't need them!

It just goes to show that there are books enough to go around for all of us -and each one is as different as the person who reads them! :)

Received safely, many thanks. I've read Linda Gillard's first two books and rate them in my top 20 best readers ever so I'm looking forward to reading this one. Should get on to it within the next week, and will pass it on to herrgirl over Xmas.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, Linda Gillard started off writing an amazing book and just keeps getting better and better!! Marianne did annoy me at times, especially in the way she treated Keir, but perhaps that's the point - while the reader could see easily how much he loved her, her blindness meant that she missed all the vital signs. As for Keir well phwoar, what a lovable man!!

I passed this onto herrgirl at Xmas.

As chelseagirl said, she passed this on to me at Christmas. I've just finished my current read so this is next up, and I'm really looking forward to it.

What better way to spend the last freezing cold afternoon of this year than curled up in the warm reading this lovely book! Smiles, tears and shivers down the spine and a well written love story, which was definitely not tosh.

As with Emotional Geology, the descriptions of Skye make me long to go there- and if Highland men are like Keir (and Callum in EG) all the more reason!

I didn't want to slap Marianne: yes, she's stubborn and spiky and feisty but I admired her determination to be mistress of her own destiny, and not to be "needy", even though it made for a rocky road for her and Keir. The scene where she was lost in the snow will stay with me for a long time, the frustration, then fear turning almost to despair she felt was so vividly conveyed. How easily we take the gift of sight for granted.

The characters of Louisa and Garth were also entertaining but why did Garth have that ghastly accent, it really jarred.

My final comment is to agree with Molyneux about the cover, I think this one is far more evocative than the final choice.

Thanks for sharing, molyneux. I've PM'd beebarf for their address.

Beebarf has an own copy, so I will PM molyneux as to where to send this now.

I've now PM'd darkhorse4460 for her address.

Update: posted on 10 January.

Received today from herrgirl. Thank you.

Will get started on this asap.

Well I don’t do romances generally but, having read Emotional Geology, I knew that this would be a romance with a twist and something to make you think.

For a sighted person its terribly hard to imagine what it might feel like to be congenitally blind and to know and understand the world entirely through the other senses. Through Marianne’s first person narrative, the author gives us an insight into how it might be for her from how she gets her clothes to match to how rain helps her to gain a sense of the dimensions of her surroundings. We learn how music helps to begin to comprehend landscapes and the scale and texture of the world around her and the enhanced significance of taste, smell and touch. I did feel I wanted to ask her more questions such as how she put on makeup, if she did, and did she dream in sounds and smells.

As most readers agree, Marianne is a great character with a stubborn independence that gets her in to trouble sometimes and yes you do want to thump her on occasions but she does arouse empathy and admiration – not pity

I did worry a bit about how very attractive Keir was and whether he was ‘real’. Yes he’s both sensitive and intelligent and hunky but he’s not without his flaws and his vulnerabilities, he finds it hard to look people in the eye and this seems to be part of the reason why he feels so at ease with Marianne who can never look at him in that way. I thought way the two interacted and Keir’s wonderful ways of ‘showing’ Marianne his world were very moving. Keir is a rare beast indeed but I think we can all agree that Marianne deserves him!

I like the way the narrative moves between Marianne and Louisa’s contrasting ‘views’ of events, almost like diary entries. I wasn’t so sure about the present tense third person bits in between at first but I realised that what these do is give a sense of unfolding events as they occur rather than a looking back with hindsight on things that have already happened. This creates tension and immediacy and helps us to feel closer to the characters as they experience events.

Just one question for Linda. How does Keir power his shower???

Will be in touch with classicfox and sending this lovely book over the pond.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to classicfox. Glad you're in on this one!

Arrived today via royal mail--thanks for sending overseas, darkhorse4460! I have officially quit BC, but intend to complete my bookring/ray commitments. However, though I forgot I had signed up for this one, I was excited to hear from darkhorse about Linda's book. I am *always* up for a Linda Gillard book! This will be my official "last hurrah" act of BookCrossing (except for wild releasing), so it means that much more to me. Will be getting to it as soon as I finish up another book I am currently reading.

A bittersweet love story set in Skye. I did like it very much and fell a little in love with Keir. I predicted the ending but that did not bother me a bit. All characters were engaging, especially Louisa and Garth. I understood Marianne's reluctance and slight crankiness as she has had to deal with so much tragedy in her life. No doubt she had created barriers. Linda, you are a wonderful writer and I look forward to your next book, whatever it may be. Pssst: I know you're reading this, lol. ;)
Off to pammykn this coming week who is a novice to Linda's books. Hope you enjoy it, pammy and somehow manage to get copies of Linda's other two books: Emotional Geology and A Lifetime Burning, the latter being my favorite of the three. Thanks again, Linda and thanks to darkhorse for sending to me overseas and thanks to Molyneux for starting the ring! BTW I agree; the first cover is more to my liking also.
ETA: Forgot to thank you, darkhorse for the lovely postcard of Oxford! It's a dream of mine to see it in person someday. :)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed today to pammykn. Hope you join the legions of Linda fans, pammy!

Thanks look forward to reading.
05/19/09 -- Very much enjoyed this one. Unique characters, loved the visit to Skye. I will be reading more of Linda Gillard's books. I've emailed bibliocrates & hopefully will pass off to her soon. Thanks again for sharing this book w/ me.

Pammykn handed this book over to me this afternoon when we met for coffee. I will get to it as soon as I can, got a lot going on right now...