Review: To Move the World by Regina Sirois

My rating: 5 stars/ It was amazing

Synopsis

Eve Brannon never had to bother planning out her future. In the Yorkshire dales where life is harder, it is also simpler. Next in line to inherit her family's farm, she will raise another generation of children and sheep high in the uplands of England. Waiting until next year when she is 19 to marry her father's handsome hired hand, Alan, is the detail she added herself.

But in 1939 even the most stalwart corners of the world are vibrating with the tremors of change. Eve's long-anticipated proposal comes on the wings of losing Alan to the Royal Army and at the brink of the farm's profitable war years the sheep herd is decimated by a mysterious illness. With her steady future suddenly in the clutches of a capricious fate, Eve is introduced to Jonathon Doran, a land manager anxious to prove himself in a crisis, and she discovers that the solid earth beneath her feet is moving after all.

My Review

The writing in this book is so lyrical and has a magical way of describing Eve's thoughts and feelings. It is a time of uncertainty not just in the world, but also in Eve's heart and mind, and the author perfectly captured the conflict and pulling of her heart in different directions as she is on the brink of stepping into adulthood. The setting of her English sheep farm and the details of her work there were vivid in my mind. I loved the outlet she had in her typewriter and the freedom of expression it brought her and enriched her life. Eve is full of contrasts, it's not surprising she finds herself wondering about the possibilities of her future. She is devoted to her father's farm, but regrets her missed opportunity to go to college. She is grounded and a dreamer, naive yet sassy, happy but grieving. Her emotions often burst off the page. It was quite an experience to read the beautiful and touching words and experiences and I felt myself relating to many of her thoughts and way of looking at the changing world.

(I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher; all opinions in this review are my own)