An Epic Read

Sheltering Rain by Jojo Moyes is a marvellous dual timeline novel that I just could not put down.

The novel is about three generations of women within a family – the grandmother, mother and daughter. Their relationships are strained with each other. The mothers do not understand their daughters and vice versa.

It has been many years since Sabine saw her grandparents. As her mother’s relationship breaks down – again! – Sabine is sent to her grandparent’s remote house in Ireland. Here, it is like stepping back in time, with servants and stabled horses; set mealtimes in the dining room and separate bedrooms. Although it is the 1990’s (the book was written in 2002) there is no internet or mobile phone for Sabine.

Sabine arrives, a moody teen from London who does not want to be in a remote location where horses and hounds are more important than people. As the time goes on, we see Sabine transform into a caring, compassionate girl as her moods are banished. It is beautiful to see her connecting and making relationships.

The novel is also set in Hong Kong in the early 1950’s. Here, Sabine’s grandmother, Joy, is a vibrant young woman which contrasts sharply with the dowdy elderly grandmother. Sabine cannot imagine her grandparents young and in love. Life was not always as idyllic as it seemed.

This book is about family relationships. The dynamics are fluid and ever changing.

We enter a lost age. The 1990’s was an age before social media. Modern technology was in its infancy. Outdoor pursuits were the order of the day. The 1950’s was a time of glamour, of making marriages for money and connections. Those young and in love were frowned upon unless wealth was involved.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sheltering Rain. This is Jojo Moyes debut novel, and as we know, she has written many fabulous books since. This is wonderful epic read.

JULIA WILSON