The Woman Behind the Waterfall ~ Book Review

The descriptive feel of this book is really strong – vivid pictures painted which at first I felt somehow dragged down the flow slightly with a writing style that felt slightly stinted.

It could possibly be the manner of writing that I am not comfortable or familiar with. Written in first person, the sentences stop and start a lot. Setting the scene and giving the reader a picture instead of presenting a story. I do feel though that with more experience this type of storytelling could be very beautiful and powerful. The story is written in a step by step experience opening with a little girl in a garden, every moment of sunlight, every emotion and movement presented.

It is more an exploration of art – as if walking through a museum.

If one is looking to get lost and wrapped up in an adventure, this is not for you but if you are looking for a new type of reading experience, in which emotions and the moment in all its descriptive reality is explored.

Having said that, the story is lyrical and beautiful, an aching and nostalgia that brings to light feelings of homesickness for all you’ve left behind in countries your heart longs for. With each new sentence, memories are brought to mind, of childhood home with the rabbit hutch, mother in the kitchen and the light-filled existence of growing up.

The book is an exploration of a child, Angela, of the surroundings of her Western Ukrainian home. Her world is a stained glass window of beauty and life and flowers and light until one day sorrow is brought into her shining reality. As in all families, there are secrets and sadness beneath the surface, Angela is confronted by them and the journey starts – will her own strength and light be enough to pull her mother back from the deep waters?

After immersing myself in the writing and descriptions, I fell in love with the manner of storytelling. Being a very visual reliant person, my imagination was saturated and very satisfied. It starts out as a bit of a struggle to read but the reader just needs to allow themselves to settle into the manner this author decided to tell her story.

4 star rating.