I recently read The Trick to Time by Kit de Waal, if I could sum this book up in a few words it would be that it is an incredibly moving story and at times heartbreaking. Using a parallel timeline, we follow Mona on the eve of her 60th birthday as she reflects on her past. She runs a doll shop and also helps women cope with tragic losses; something she's too familiar with. Some may dislike reading two timelines at once but I personally enjoyed it and find that each event complements another. It also shows the power of the story as I was willing younger Mona's path to change even though I knew the eventual outcome.  There is a twist at the end of the book which took me by surprise which I'm sure was the aim.  There's the reoccurring theme of missed chances throughout the novel with the story of Bridie back in Ireland and Mona's potential suitor Karl. It's a very thought-provoking novel and I feel it deals with the subject of loss very well. Setting part of it during the IRA bombing in Birmingham was a good touch, highlighting how Irish immigrants during this time in Britain would have felt. I would definitely recommend this book but would be wary as it does deal with the loss of children.

This book is a delight from start to finish. It’s fairly petite at just 272 pages and I devoured it in a day such is its morish storytelling.

Fans of Kit de Waal’s first book My Name is Leon might be surprised by the flavour of her second novel. While My Name is Leon was full of heart and childlike innocence, The Trick to Time is on another level of narrative and emotional maturity.

The plot follows Mona’s life and unravels the everyday tragedies that befall her. Those tragedies aren’t extravagant or particularly extraordinary but their impact is life-altering. De Waal beautifully captures how Mona carries on in the face of devastation and describes the unique collection of tools she uses to cope with her experiences. I was left considering the efficacy of Mona’s mechanisms and how I might cope with such occurrences in my own life.

The trick to time of the title is a lesson learned from Mona’s father who suggests we can stretch and bend time in order to craft the past or futures we desire. Mona’s use of the trick is heartbreakingly tender when we see her create the scenes of what could have been.

De Waal’s writing was immediately in good company in my mind. Mona’s doll shop reminded me of Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop while the fluid chronology of the chapters evokes the narrative manipulation of Kate Atkinson. The storytelling is beautifully done and it kept me guessing until the end.

The Trick to Time is a poignant look at one woman’s life and how she copes with the gut-wrenching events she encounters. I was emotionally hooked from the first few pages and De Waal has lost none of the tenderness she introduced us to in My Name in Leon; in fact, she’s surpassed it.

This is a confident but delicate book that will utterly absorb your senses. I’m still reeling from its emotional journey and know I will read this again and again and again.

Not my normal choice genre but really enjoyed it. I would definitely read this book again and again. Well written and kept me wanting more

The Trick to Time is the story of Mona, a dollmaker from Ireland living in an English seaside town. As she approaches her 60th birthday she looks back over her life - a childhood in Ireland, the loss of her mother and her closeness to her father, her escape from small town life and move to Birmingham, where she meets her husband William. There they experience joy, when Mona becomes pregnant, and the horrors of being Irish after the 1972 IRA bomb attack. Mona then has a stillbirth - made worse by the fact that, in the early 70s, it was assumed that the best way to help families cope with this loss was to virtually pretend the child had never existed. Mona now seems to lead a solitary and lonely life but we find that when she does connect with others her aim is to help them - in the way that she was helped at the hardest time of her life.

I'm not sure if I can quite describe what it is that Kit de Waal does in her books which make them so wonderful. Part of it is the characters: they are very ordinary people who are put into, in some ways, everyday situations but the way that they deal with them transcends the ordinary. I think what I love most is the fact that she sees the extraordinary in everyone. I laughed with these people, basked in their love and wept with them. While you read their lives they are as real to you as your own family. It is a deeply emotional experience but it is one I can never regret - I feel the weight of these people's lives in every page.

Kit de Waal's second novel, The Trick to Time, begins with a daughter who is losing her mother. When Mona, who is only a child at the time, balks at spending her days by her mother's sickbed, her father tells her: 'one day, you will want these hours back, my girl. You will wonder how you lost them and you will want to get them back. There's a trick to time... You can make it expand or you can make it contract. Make it shorter or make it longer.' The Trick to Time flashes between Mona's present, where she is growing old making dolls in a coastal village, and Mona's past, as she grows up and leaves rural Ireland for a new life in Manchester. The central conceit of the novel - how Mona uses 'the trick to time' throughout the course of her life - is handled very well by de Waal. The Trick to Time is a desperately sad novel, but it never feels melodramatic or exploitative. There are particular scenes that I know will take some time to leave me.

However, while I liked The Trick to Time, I wouldn't put it on the Women's Prize shortlist. A big problem for me was pacing. Because I worked out pretty quickly what the tragedy in Mona's past was (and I don't think this is meant to be a big twist, I think most readers will guess it early on) the first half of the novel felt very slow, as we wait to get to that point in the past timeline. Once it's happened - and de Waal conveys Mona's shock and grief incredibly well - I sped through the second half of the novel. However, a cumbersome sub-plot about the older Mona starting to date Karl, an aristocratic European who has recently moved to her village, added nothing for me. Mona's early happy days in Manchester also felt as if they'd been wheeled out simply to highlight the trauma that follows - her relationship with first boyfriend, William, feels pasted in from numerous other novels.

Most of all, though, The Trick to Time probably suffered simply because I read it alongside Jessie Greengrass's Sight, which got me thinking about how much writing about motherhood and pregnancy tends to take for granted. The Trick to Time is no worse at this than many other novels, but the way that Mona easily falls into line with social expectations made me feel that the story I was reading was hugely familiar. As I've suggested above, The Trick to Time does take the reader to some more interesting places - but it's up against a very strong longlist, and I didn't feel it stood out enough. 3.5 stars.

Wanted to read as I loved Leon - while a different kind of book, the writing and characters were still strong

Well written novel about loss and how some people react and recover to a degree, or never recover at all completely depending on their personality. Informative about the subject matter of still birth and dealt with sympathetically with enough mystery to overall story to keep the reader interested.

A beautiful and unusual read. We meet Mona approaching her 60th Birthday. Mona makes dolls for her shop and for some very special people. The story moves betweeen the present day and the past. Heartbreaking subject matter handled with great respect and dignity. A story of love and loss
A truly lovelky read
#TheTrickToTime#Netgalley

A heartbreaking subject dealt with very well. Mona is a wonderful character with an unexpected secret. I loved the way the strands of the story came together. Beautifully crafted.

That feeling you sometimes get looking out to sea: a mix of calm and melancholy, wistful, haunting, at peace. The Trick To Time captures all of those. It’s suffused with the feel of the sea; shifting sands through an hourglass, emotional tides that rise and fall like a sigh. Only, in De Waal’s hands, it is also impossibly subtle.

The protagonist, Mona, grows up on the Irish coast and as a child escapes to the beach from the sadness, pressure and confusion of a dying mother: “...over the yielding dunes and down to the fringe of the Kilmore shore. Sand as soft as powder all around the curve of the bay.” When her father finds her there, he tells her: “‘one day, you will want these hours back, my girl. You will wonder how you lost them and you will want them back. There’s a trick to time.’”

The stretching and shifting of time and memory underpin the book, with currents of love and loss and longing. But on top of that, the writing is brisk and invigorating, full of a fresh and wonderful realism.

We meet Mona when she’s older; tentatively indulging a flirtation as she prepares to celebrate her 60th birthday. It’s one of the pure joys of this book to read such a vivid older character that defies stereotypes. Mona is funny, affectionate, sexual, self-conscious, uncertain and stylish. Complicated and unfinished in a way older people in books rarely are. She exudes a youthfulness at sixty that feels very real. Getting ready for her birthday dinner, there is not a cliche in sight:

“By seven she’s ready in black trousers with a good pair of heels and a white silk blouse with diamante at the neck. Hair up, earrings and a gold chain. Her tailored black jacket that still buttons at the waist and a suede clutch bag. At the mirror in the hall, Mona takes a deep breath and smiles at herself. ‘Come on now, girl! You’re not a bad-looking old stick at all!’”

As Mona tries to focus on her future, the narrative flashes back to her past. We meet both the child Mona, and the young woman - recently moved to land-locked Birmingham. There she meets a charming Irishman and, as the book blurb states: “They embark upon a passionate affair, a whirlwind marriage - before a sudden tragedy tears them apart.” Another refreshing realism is how this particular tragedy affects her husband, as well as her.

So many of the things I love about this book boil down to it’s realism. It makes me wonder how detached from real life everything else I’m reading must be, for it all to be so striking. The frank descriptions of simple female realities: “Her pad is soaked with blood and it chafes the tops of her legs.” The psychological truth of being frustrated when you can’t embrace the moment: “She should just get into the bloody spirit of things.” The way Mona herself never seems to grasp her own feelings and motivations that well, with the reader allowed to draw their own conclusions way before Mona reaches the same ones. And small town Britain is there in precise detail, from coffee snobbery to kebab shops.

That may sound mundane, but it’s far from it. The crystal clear details of the everyday provide the perfect counterpoint to the larger truths that can’t be pinned down. The gripping plot motors along with plenty of drama, but it’s the complex inner life of Mona that drives you forward, and it’s never fully spelled out, either for the reader or Mona herself. This is perhaps the most realistic point of all. As in our own lives, the most profound truths are always drifting just out of reach. Subtle shifts of atmosphere and passing impressions; just like that feeling of looking out to sea.

Very emotionally heavy. Took a little while for me to get invested in the book but the flashbacks to Mona when she was younger really made me feel more connected to her. I wish there had been more happier moments to balance out the present time. Definitely a book that I won't forget easily.

Set in the present day, this timeless novel tells the sad story of true love and loss. Approaching her sixtieth birthday, Mona makes clothing for wooden dolls that she sells in her own shop. Each bespoke doll has its own identity and is made by a carpenter who isn’t named until much later in the book. Mona also volunteers helping other women who have faced tragedy in their lives through stillbirth. One night, unable to sleep, Mona looks out of her apartment window and locks eyes with a stranger who lives in the adjacent block. When Mona bumps in to this mysterious man, who Mona has envisaged as a General, they gradually get to know each other as friends. But is The General, the man Mona has imagined him to be? And will she be able to overcome her past and move on to a new one? Does she want to?
Whilst Mona (aptly named after Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello) has faced tragedy throughout her entire life, this beautifully written and thought-provoking narrative has a glass half-full tone. This has a metaphorical link to the book’s title, where as a child, Mona’s father helped her mother’s terminal illness by telling her ‘there’s a trick to time [...] you can make it expand or you can make it contract.’ This is a theme that runs throughout the story, where Mona uses this gift not only to help others but to get through life herself. The narrative has a literary feel to it: although there were a few twists and moments of suspense, this book was more about the protagonist’s inner journey and how she has dealt with the blows life has thrown at her.
The author’s in-depth knowledge of setting for both time and place are evident throughout; where events of the past are gradually woven into the present-day timeline through a series of flashbacks, until the two narrative strands finally come together.
Surprisingly, the book also has several laugh out loud moments, which is where the author’s Irish humour shone through. Combined with Kit de Waal’s talent for writing an almost poetic narrative, this made what could have potentially been a melancholy story into something inspiring and uplifting.
I absolutely loved this book and the ending was particularly emotive. Its compelling and poetic narrative, original plot, three-dimensional characters, and uplifting humour makes this a 5 star review from Literature Love.
I recommend this book for anybody who likes Carol Mason or Mary Paulson-Ellis.
Thank you to Viking and Netgalley for providing this ARC copy in return for an unbiased review.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
www.literaturelove.co.uk

Mona fell in love, married and got pregnant. So far so good, but unfortunately her pregnancy started to go wrong on the night of the Birmingham IRA bombings. The hospital was busy, she was Irish and her husband was missing; sadly the baby died.

This is Mona's story; how she got to be a doll maker, seemingly alone in the world, coping with the double grief of a lost child and a lost husband.

There is a slow observational pace to the book, a sense that Mona's life has passed by and that she has suddenly found herself at 60 having never really lived due to her grief. I enjoyed it, I didn't devour it, however the feeling and sympathy poured into the depiction of Mona's life makes it a thoughtful read.

May I say firstly how much I enjoyed the debut, "My name is Leon." This novel is equally sensitively written, tender and compassionate. Once I picked it up it was hard to put down. I thought the title was impressively philosophical. The main characters are Mona and William. They are both Irish but living in Birmingham. The story fluctuates between their childhoods, their romance in the 1970's and the present. Mona is now 60 and living alone. She has carved out a career for herself making clothes for exclusive dolls. Life has been unfair to the couple but Mona takes it on the chin and manages to make the best of things. William however is not quite as strong. In November 1974 I was 8 months pregnant too and can recall the horror of the IRA bombings in Birmingham followed by the surprise reprieve for the Birmingham six later in 1991. It made me give thought to this awful human trait that punishes innocent citizens because of their nationality instead of blaming the true perpetrators of horror. It can't be easy to be a Muslim or a Russian in this country at the moment for instance. A horrifying, heartbreaking insight into mental illness. A very unusual ending. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House.

There are plenty of hitches to the throat in this beautifully written book about love, loss and coming to terms with the way one has lived life.
As a young woman Mona leaves her father and home in Ireland for a new life in England. She meets and quickly falls in love with an Irish boy called William. Soon after they are married tragedy strikes both the couple personally and the city in which they live. The novel moves between the present day, the 1970s and further back to Mona's childhood.

Mona has just turned 60 and she recalls the happy and sad episodes in her life. She lives alone and makes and sells high-end dolls for a living. These dolls are very important to her and she invests a great of time and effort in their production assisted by a local carpenter. She also uses doll shapes to counsel women who have lost a baby.

There is a lot of melancholy in this novel with regrets beautifully expressed. There is also humour, particularly in the portrayal of William's aunts. Topics drawn out in characters and the narrative are quite sensitive and cover, the loss of a baby, mental health and what it meant to be Irish in 1970s England. I was very moved by it and it will stay with me for some time.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Mona is a doll maker. She crafts beautiful wooden dolls in her workshop. Every doll has a name. And every doll has a hidden meaning., from a past Mona has never accepted.

Mona is approaching sixty years old. She creates wooden dolls with the help of the local carpenter. The story jumps from the present to Mona's past as a young girl/woman., when she falls in love with William. They both leave Ireland for a new life in Birmingham. But things go wrong the night of the IRA bombings. There is a fantastic bunch of characters in this book who rallied round in Mona's time of need. This is a beautifully written and emotional read. This is the first book I have read by Kit de Waal but I have already downloaded three of he books to my kindle. I do recommend this book!!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and the author Kit de Waal for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love and loss are the big questions that most of us have to deal with in life which on the one hand makes them universal but of course each love is different as is each loss. Kit de Waal has penned an almost understated story populated by seriously lovely characters devoted to the subject.

Mona sits in her flat in London staring at the day dawning when she notices a man in the block across the way from her. He is also awake and looking out, perhaps reaching out to those around him.
I wanted to both be friends with Mona and mother her, an odd combination particularly as she celebrates her sixtieth birthday during the course of this book. She’s a doll-maker, real old-fashioned dolls are made from wood by the carpenter and painstakingly painted and dressed by Mona and then sold, often to overseas buyers in Japan and America. Each doll is unique with a similarly unique wardrobe. Mona has a shop too and here she works day in day out with young Joley with her big boots and crop tops assisting her. Twice a year she meets her old friend Val from Birmingham, where Mona lived in the early 70s.

Mona also offers a personalised service for bereaved mothers and this is her side-line. Not one that is advertised or has a website like the dolls, but one where people are referred for help when a baby has died. In short Mona is a lovely lady with a big heart and whilst that had probably always been the case, we learn what led her to both professions by going back to the beginning when a young girl crossed the Irish Sea and made a life for herself in Birmingham. Living in a boarding house over time she meets William and so this becomes their story.

This is a gentle book which doesn’t mean boring, in fact far from it. The Trick to Time is fearsomely well-written and despite the subject matter it never descends into mawkishness, but rather I was impressed by Mona’s strength, although like her friend Val couldn’t help but feel that perhaps she should put herself first once in a while.

The book shifts backwards and forwards in time pulling in the details of Mona’s childhood, her mother’s illness, her father’s steadfastness and the ongoing sense of obligation to her distant relation Bridie. Ireland was too stifling for many youngsters at the time and so they moved to Birmingham where they stayed in boarding houses and missed their homes. Mona’s time in Birmingham is full of colour, of love and telephone calls across the water, but nothing stays the same, the trick to time is making the most of the good times.

Although this review mentions just a few characters, there are lots, all exquisitely detailed, and on the whole they are lovely people, unlike the majority that perhaps populate my normal reading matter. This is, like My Name is Leon, undoubtedly a character led novel with a message, but not one that the author feels she needs to force, her writing gives us all and I think that The Trick of Time will touch many people’s lives on a personal level, after all, most of us will love and lose throughout our lives.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Penguin Books UK who allowed me to read an advance copy of The Trick to Time ahead of publication in the UK on 29 March 2018. This unbiased review is thank you to them and the very talented Kit de Waal who bought Mona into my life.

The overwhelming emotion this book evokes throughout, and after finishing, is sadness. Sadness for what has clearly gone wrong with Mona's life, even before discovering her story. She has a fairly interesting life making dolls for her toyshop. Which is a thriving business, at first I thought she was an eccentric old lady with dusty dolls, but this isn't the case. Her secrets gradually unfold and we see how difficult things were for women who lose babies back in the 70s, but through the unique service Mona and counsellor Gail offer we see that while the practical situation and perception may have changed, the underlying sadness is of course, still there. We explore the taboo (back then) world of male mental health and the far reaching consequences of not being open and acknowledging the problem. I was left with the feeling of frustration that Mona had been held back, and what she could have made of her life if William had been able to be open about his issues and express his emotions as Mona could. The liaison with Karl added a strange touch to the story, which at one point I thought was going to turn nasty.

It was refreshing to read this book. I think we all need to be reminded how hard it was for women 60 years ago when they had difficult pregnancies or worse still births. This book shows us how far we have come in terms of obstetric care. It was a compelling story which switched between England and Ireland and how compassionate it was in terms of the care the "folks back home in Ireland cared deeply for those who had gone to England but who always gave them room back home. A well researched book. .

Having read and enjoyed "My Name is Leon" when I read it a couple of years ago, I was quite looking forward to reading this one, by the same author. It's a strange tale played out by some very interesting characters and it operates on various levels of emotion. I think like Leon, this book will end up meaning different things to different people and will make an excellent book club read as I think it will provoke the right kind of discussions.
So, Mona makes dolls. Well, she actually dresses dolls, they are made by the old carpenter. She has a shop and, although not doing really great, she's ticking over enough to make end meet. Each doll she creates is unique and special. She gets her materials from all sorts of places and crafts styles and outfits to suit the doll's personality.
Whilst following Mona in the present, we also play catch-up with her past. We first meet her as a girl in her hometown in Ireland. We follow her as she leaves there and moves away to make her place in the world in England. We see how she falls in love and what happens thereafter. All in flashback, all in little chunks that are inserted into the present day narrative at the right moments to complement it.
Back in the present we are also privy to another of Mona's services, again aided by the old carpenter. But no more of this here. Actually, it's hard to say too much more about the story here as much of the beauty of the tale is to see it being weaved and then watch as it unravels towards the end so, I will leave that there.
In Mona, the author has created a wonderful but wounded character. There is an air of sadness about her right from the start, the reasons behind which become clear as the book progresses. As with most people, she experiences highs and lows in her life but again, as with people of her own age, she just seems keen to get on with things. To muddle through, making the best hand with the cards she has been dealt. It's nearly a coming of age book, albeit of the more mature kind, as she begins to realise certain things are missing from her life when she meets her neighbour Karl and starts a friendship with him. But to be able to move from the past she has to face it and that's the crux of this book.
The way this book has been written, the language used, the descriptions, the characters, all fit together so perfectly. Yes, there's an underlying sadness running throughout but it goes hand in hand with hope and that makes the book balanced. There are also some great moments of light and occasionally comedy. Mona learning the computer system, her husbands Aunts and their nicknames, just to name a couple of things, inserted at just the right times to lift the mood of the book meaning that it didn't get too dark.
It's a reflective book. It definitely made me think and re-evaluate some aspects of my own life as I was reading it. It also contains topics that some might find hard to read about so I would recommend caution when choosing whether to and when to read it if you are sensitive.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.