2.5 rating. Ellen is forced to return home to her small family farm on the Gower after living for 2 years in America, something she wasn’t really keen to do. A wonderfully descriptive book of how people lived at the start of the 1900’s. The trouble is I didn’t like anything at all about Ellen, especially the way she spoke to others which seemed to me to be more like a woman today would speak. The three women with their very similar names was confusing until I was accustomed to it. The book is also a little slow going. A lovely change to use the beautiful Gower Peninsula as a setting though.

Set in winter 1904, Ellen has started a new life in Hoboken, New Jersey when her family call, her back to the family farm on the remote Gower Peninsula, her family are in dire straits are they try to prevent the death of their alcoholic father. Her father is simply gambling away the future of the farm by losing swathes of land. Her mother is in grief, feeling like she’s totally lost her husband to drink. Finally, Ellen’s younger brothers have a huge decision - do they stay and farm their ever dwindling land or leave like Ellen? The family dynamic is such that it’s up to Ellen to bring the family back into line. She has reserves of energy to spare and is very forthright as she tries to improve their situation. However as she battles through the obstacles she is bound to be depleted and could experience burn out. She also has her new life in the USA waiting for her, will she have to face that awful decision to leave once again?

This was an atmospheric novel and there was such a change from NYC and New Jersey to the remoteness of Wales. The author used layers of description that read beautifully from the slightly old fashioned house, it’s rural setting and the difference in attitudes towards women between the two places stayed with me most. Cleverly the author uses the women in Ellen’s family to illustrate the different stages of women’s lives, Her sister is heavily pregnant, her mother seemed chained to the sink and her grandmother haunts the settle by the fire. They are the embodiment of her future should she stay put and I was begging her, in my head, to go back to Hoboken. Once the reasons for her move across the Atlantic come to light I was heartbroken for her. She has been treated so badly by men. She was chosen as the local farmer’s daughter in law. However, they wanted to be sure she would give their son an heir and a future for the farm. When it doesn’t happen - a problem firmly parked at Ellen’s door - she was offered the choice of America, almost as if she needs to be erased. Luckily, she has made friends in New Jersey and she can see a different future where the roles for women are not so limited. In Wales it seems like the women wait endlessly - for the men to return for , to serve their food, to clear it away. There is a repeated image of the woman constantly with knife in hand ready to cut her husband’s bread , but I was also aware of the knife’s other purpose should she snap. I could see how torn Ellen is between her love for her homeland, and her freedom in America. As a character she feels so real and her dilemma really resonated with me. She can’t truly go home again because she has changed so much,

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An intriguing and fascinating read with plenty to explore with the layers of depth.
A good read.

A nice slice of life story.

Jane Fraser does an excellent job writing description and painting a vivid picture of this Welsh landscape. Each scene is easy to imagine. But the characters themselves are a little boring and there's no real conflict. This is mostly a slice of life without an over arching story line. There's no build to a climax and satisfying tie up at the end.

The lack of urgency in the writing makes this ideal for someone looking to escape into someone else's life for a few hours on a low-risk way. Overall this was well written, but I didn't like the ending as much as I could have.

An enjoyable story of family and the struggle of the ‘modern woman’ in the early 1900’s. I found the characters to be warm and engaging, especially the twins, but always thought they had the potential for more. Ellen seemed always to be on the cusp of greatness but unfortunately never quite made it.

DNF @ 40%

What this book made me see is a very competent writer, capable of clawing out the minutest atmospheric detail in a scene, rendering the whole setting alive and vivid to someone who never set foot in Wales, let alone ever lived in early 20th century Britain.

But where this book falls short, to me, was a huge problem. PLOT! This book lacked a propeller: the motive to push forward. And it's not that it's slow-burn, because I thrive on those books that don't promise me the world on the first page only to let me down midway, I'm a fan of those thin layers laid out throughout the book for me to peel page by page. I'm afraid that wasn't the case here.

I could see three women belonging to three different generations and ideals were at the core of the story. I really liked Ellen, headstrong and independent. Along with her mother and grandmother, there was room for developments and conflicts, but it all fell so flat the beautiful writing could not salvage it. I wasn't motivated to take it any further.

Thank you Netgalley and Honno Press for the opportunity to review this book.

When Ellen, who is currently living in America, receives a letter from Wales calling her home she goes. She finds her father gambling the family land drinking himself into an early grave, her mother missing the husband she once had and her brothers coming of age and trying to find their own path in life.
Her Grandmother, says little and sees everything. I struggled a bit with this book, it had the potential to be more, it just didn't grab me. Ellen was fierce and independent, craved a better life and I think we could have seen much more of her character than we did. I was willing her to say more, do more but it just didn't happen.

I loved this book for so many reasons. Jane Fraser's writing style is superb; the story is a good one, the characters well rounded, the dialogue immediately summons up each of them, the descriptions evoke instant images. There is not one word wasted.
The protagonist, Ellen, is multi layered, the reader becomes aware of her fragility, both emotionally and physically as the story progresses. She has striven to distance herself from her family's needs, from a lost love, by going to America - yet still,on her return to the farm, she is drawn in by those needs, by that love.
To paraphrase a sentence in the book, "long days, short time.' - the story only covers a brief six months, but each day is long, each day needs to be endured, dealt with by Ellen. New decisions have to be made. And all the while we are listening to her internal dialogue: learning her history, of her relationship with those in her life, getting to know them through her eyes; discovering how each fits into the society and era of Wales in the early twentieth century, what is expected of them. How, in the past, through no fault of her own, she didn't fit in, and now refuses to succumb to others' expectations.
What I most admire about this author's writing is the brevity of words in bringing the background, the setting, the weather, to life on the page. A sentence, here and there of poetic prose immediately evokes a sense of place. Wonderful.
Whilst I realise that, for some readers, there may be not enough background fleshed out - and it's difficult for me not to give spoilers here - ( i.e. Ellen's life before America and her life there) - I felt the subtlety of the writing that covers both of these events was enough for me and the absence of that backdrop doesn't take anything away from the story.
Advent is a book that will stay with me for a long time. I have no hesitation in recommending it to any reader who loves a well written historical family story.

Beautifully written, with prose that transports you to the wild Welsh coastline. Interesting themes of family and female ambition, delivered with a warmth as each character becomes revealed to the reader. A good pace, with an emotional ending to leave us wondering.

Interesting read, a very strong sense of loyalty throughout the book. Especially to family.

I did have a little bit of a confusing time remembering the three main characters names as they are rather similar. And when you read during the night like myself, it can get a little muddled.

Now the question remains, would I buy this for myself or a friend. Honestly I don’t know. I’m a bit on the fence about this book.

3.5 stars

Ellen is called home from America,to help with her father and his illness.
The fact she's in America,and taking the journey alone,for me ,set her as a modern female.
When circumstances change,she faces the past she ran away from,at the same time as taking charge of the family.
I enjoyed this book,it really did have a sense of family and loyalty to it,though it took me awhile to get the three generations of women straight in my head. Their names were too similar.
Interesting to read about the mines,and the old customs