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The Island House
Title | The Island House |
Writer | |
Date | 2024-11-08 12:29:49 |
Type | |
Link | Listen Read |
Desciption
In 2011 Freya Dane, a Ph.D. candidate in archaeology, arrives on the ancient Scottish island of Findnar. After years of estrangement from her father, himself an archaeologist who recently died, Freya has come to find out what she can about his work. As she reads through his research notes, she sees he learned a great deal about the Viking and Christian history of the island. But what he found only scratches the surface of the discoveries Freya is about to make.In 800 A.D. a Pictish girl named Signy loses her entire family during a Viking raid. She is taken in by the surviving members of the Christian community on Findnar, but when she falls deeply in love with a Viking boy, she is cast out. She eventually becomes a nun and finds herself at the center of the clash between the island’s three religious cultures. The tragedy of her story is that, in the end, she must choose among her adopted faith, her native religion, and the man she loves.Centuries apart, Freya and Signy are each on the verge of life-changing events that will bring present-day and Viking-era Scotland together. The Island House plunges the reader into a past that never dies and a love that reaches out across a thousand years.
Review
This story had so much potential, but the writing was - ick. The parts written in the past were the better parts of the book, but not great. The parts written in the now had the relationships developing inexplicably fast, with one-dimensional characters and cringe-worthy dialogue. This book seemed like it couldn't make up its mind whether it was an otherworldly story of spirit and historical fiction, or a dime-a-dozen romance. I think if the author could have really developed both timelines, slowed the pacing of the modern parts, done a little more research into how people might have spoken in the past, and made all the dialogue more believable, this could have been a pretty cool story. The bits on sailing and archeology were the most interesting parts. I think the author tried to pull off some point to each timeline at the end with the final chapters that seemed tacked-on, but I just found myself ready to get the reading over and done.