I was drawn in by a rave review from Marlon James. I stayed for the absolutely beautiful writing, the devastating poetry of a story of two sisters -Ezra and Cinthy Kindred - but also of their community of Salt Point. Through alternating viewpoints, perspectives and histories, Rachel Eliza Griffiths delivers a truly monumental piece of work - all the more outstanding that it is a debut novel - which manages to say as much about the 1950s as it does today.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC

There is no actual plot to this novel. It consists mostly of a series of the various characters' backstories about family history, origins and traditions. In between are poorly-written vignette-style episodes about a group of young people growing up and coming of age. The shifts of points of view to different characters and between first person and third person narration is done clumsily and feels more like an unpleasant mental jolt than simply signifying the start of a new chapter.

Disappointing, since the promotional blurb made this novel sound really promising. Sorry, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to John Murray publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.