from the flea market down the hill.
n the lush and isolated cemetery of a small Southern town, Finch Nobles, the narrator of this brilliantly inventive novel, tends to the flowers and shrubs that surround the monuments of people who were not known to her while they lived but who in death have become her lifeline.

Badly burned in a household accident when she was just four, Finch grows into a courageous and feisty loner. She eschews the pity and awkward stares of the people of her hometown and discovers that if she listens closely enough, she can hear the voices of those who have gone before. Finally, when she speaks, they answer back, telling their stories in a remarkable chorus of regrets, explanations, and insights. But the infant Marcus, son of the town's mayor, died before he learned to speak and can only wail away the hours. The roots of his anguish are revealed in a crescendo of lasting resonance that ties together the outcast Finch, her dead friends, and the living community outside the cemetery's gates.

Really enjoyed this; the prose was beautiful, the charcters wonderfully drawn, the storyline different but interesting, and the ending wrapped it all up nicely.
I shall look forward to reading some more of this authors work.

Received from boreal on a recent trip to Dunedin - this is headed for the shelves at Trattorie, but I think I will read it first.... as suggested!

Thanks Libragirl - I will read and release in Wellington - hope that's OK with Boreal?!

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Just left along the way.

It was a delightful surprise to find this book enjoying the peace of Waitarere Beach, Levin :)

It has made the trip home with me to sunny Gisborne, and I look forward to finishing it and releasing it into the wild again soon!