But a phone call will soon reunite them, and bring those wild years flooding back: the secret language that she and her mother invented; the strange boy, Marcus, living on the boat that final winter; the creature said to be underwater, swimming ever closer.
In the end there will be nothing for Gretel to do but wade deeper into their past, where family secrets and ages prophecies will all come tragically alive again.
Gretel knows how to light a fire, skin animals, make wind chimes and how to steer a boat.
What she doesn't know is, how to commerce with people, how to live on her own or where her mother went.
Her estranged, beautiful, wonderful, secretive mother. The one who would tell her stories of the creature in the murk, who would cook breakfast for her in the morning then let her camp out under the stars at night. Gretel was seven years old when she left her, not once did her mother look back, not even for the strange boy who went missing.
Now an adult and on a mission to find her mother and bring her home, Gretel must navigate her way through society and deeper into her past than ever before. She must go back to The River, The Hut and The Cottage whilst speaking to people she never knew existed. Before it's too late and her fears consume her.
Everything Under by Daisy Johnson, is her second novel and I will most certainly be heading out to buy her first.
I'll be honest, when I started reading the book I was thinking on just not finishing it, I was going to do the 'first fifty pages' and then put it aside, though I'm so happy that I reached that fifty page mark.
This has easily become one of my favourite reads so far of 2019, I am quite surprised that I enjoyed it so much. The writing style is extremely clever, the storyline is beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. I noticed whilst reading that the book itself is set out into three sections, however, you could quite easily read said sections in their own little way and it would still flow beautifully.
I loved Gretel's character so much; strong, resilient and will not give up no matter what. The characters themselves are wonderfully unique, as is the story and I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I felt the book itself was a lot deeper than possibly intended, with themes of anxiety and depression, which was something that I admired.
If you have to read a new book this year, let it be this wonderful, clever read. You won't be disappointed.
I will be giving this book 10 out of 10
I'll be honest, when I started reading the book I was thinking on just not finishing it, I was going to do the 'first fifty pages' and then put it aside, though I'm so happy that I reached that fifty page mark.
This has easily become one of my favourite reads so far of 2019, I am quite surprised that I enjoyed it so much. The writing style is extremely clever, the storyline is beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. I noticed whilst reading that the book itself is set out into three sections, however, you could quite easily read said sections in their own little way and it would still flow beautifully.
I loved Gretel's character so much; strong, resilient and will not give up no matter what. The characters themselves are wonderfully unique, as is the story and I would highly recommend this book to anyone. I felt the book itself was a lot deeper than possibly intended, with themes of anxiety and depression, which was something that I admired.
If you have to read a new book this year, let it be this wonderful, clever read. You won't be disappointed.
I will be giving this book 10 out of 10
