The cover appealed and when I read that Thunderhead was inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Galloway, my interest was piqued.

This was a quick and hypnotic read , a stream of consciousness rather than plot driven as the reader spends a day inside the head of Winona Galloway, a stay at home mother in surburbia. It took 20 or 30 pages for me to get used to the rhythm and writing style but once I did I couldn’t put this book down. The author pulled me into this world , where the mundane and the obscure collide.

A strange and quite powerful read, tension builds like the storm that rattles around this life the protagonist has found herself trapped in. A unique depiction of coercive control and domestic violence. This one was a grower. I’d read more from this author.

3.5-4 stars

Inspired by Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway, this novel is a stream of consciousness following a housewife on the brink. We follow her throughout one day as tension builds, and her chaotic thoughts, splintered with moments of deep clarity, work through the horror of her caged domestic reality. The writing is beautiful and strange at times, and the narrative style means you become fully immersed in a character. Her mental state is reflected in the hectic writing and the stream of consciousness was a highly effective way to tell this tightly plotted story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Review: Thunderhead by Miranda Darling

Thunderhead is centered around Joyce and Lydia, two women who have both spent their lives in submission to others.

They live in the same small town, but except for one small moment have never met. While Lydia spent her early years in the limelight as a teen pop star, Joyce has not left her home. She never held a job, lives with and spends all her time with her mother. As she contemplates her future Lydia is thinking about escaping and Joyce examines her own life after a self-serving apology.

It took me a little while to get into this book, but I came to enjoy it more during the read. The writing is beautifully lyrical and poetic and a bit dark. A bonus point is for maybe the prettiest book cover of the year :)

The cover is one of the most simple yet stunning designs, and main reason I requested it. The writing is very stream of consciousness/disjointed. The type of lyrical writing where you really have to pay attention otherwise you’ll get lost. There were some beautiful or relatable moments I marked but I felt a lot of this went over my head. Some of the stuff I highlighted felt very relatable to me as an autistic woman, completely different from why our MC feels that way, about not fitting in and “figuring out How To Be” in social settings!

I was so confused half the time but then the last 20-30 pages it all starts to make more sense. By the end, I honestly didn’t know how to feel (and I still don’t).

This is very much no plot, just vibes. Nothing really happens and you don’t get much world building. It’s all the chaotic thoughts of this woman, Winona, racing through her head (and the voices that add to her chaotic thoughts).

I read it in a day because it’s so short and fast paced. If it was longer I would’ve DNFd but only 160 pages? Might as well finish it 😂

If you want no plot just vibes, chaotic lists, struggling young mother and wife in suburbia, or a story that comes crashing together in the end, then check out Thunderhead

Set over the course of a single day spent in preparation of a dinner party, you might pick up on similarities with Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway. Darling’s main character even shares her name. This Ms Dalloway narrates by sharing her internal voice, the lists she makes through the day, the small stresses of food shopping and trying to be home in time for the plumber, until the small criticisms she faces from her husband spill over into something darker, her anxieties suddenly the responses to very real threat.

This was my first time reading a stream of consciousness style work and it was a memorable experience.

Darling, writes as Winona a woman whose day we experience with her, through a doctors appointment, the school pick to a party from the moment of her waking. We are privy to Winona's inner workings as she experiences emotional and psychological abuse, alongside raising her children. Darling, addresses issues such as motherhood and the concept of suburbia but also the patriarchy and toxic masculinity.

You don't really know what is going on Winona's mind felt like everything all at once. Constantly, thinking moving in quick succession from thought to thought. In some cases you get a glimpse of a thought never to return again. The only order you experience in the form of lists Winona makes throughout the day but even they overlap, different thoughts and sub-categories together.

Thunderhead is an experience and at 160 pages a quick read.

Thunderhead releases 2nd May.

Thank you to Scribe UK and to Netgalley for thr ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first novel written as a stream-of-consciousness that I've read and while I'll admit I found it jarring at the start I got into it very quickly. I can see why some readers found this hard to read, especially given its length - blink and it's finished at 109 pages but it's an easy one-sitting read. I think this would be a joy to listen to as an audiobook, possibly a bit like a fever dream but then I find myself drawn to these stories more and more at the moment.

Come for that beautiful cover and stay for an unusual but intriguing story. I can't wait to add a copy to my library when the book is out on 2nd May 2024. Thank you to Scribe + NetGalley for the opportunity to read Thunderhead before it's released #Thunderhead #NetGalley

Other than my first impressions from its dreamlike, intriguing cover, I wasn't sure what to expect from 'Thunderhead' - its blurb was compelling, and yet also (much like the image on the front) vague; somewhat mysterious. What I found, upon reading it, was a pleasant surprise - as someone who adores Virginia Woolf's seminal stream-of-consciousness novel 'Mrs Dalloway', this felt like a well-considered, well-written modern revision, one which is both in dialogue with, and skilfully departs from, the original text.

I felt the exploration of the book's more sensitive themes - such as that of motherhood, marriage, and domestic abuse - were handled with compassion and care, and I thought the internal dialogue of the central protagonist, Winona, was written in a way which seemed true-to-life, making the narrative easy to understand and be immersed in. That being said, some aspects of the plot and structuring felt a little clunky, and although I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, since finishing it I haven't found that many of the characters will really stay with me. I would, however, be interested to read more of Darling's work in the future.

Thank you to Scribe UK and NetGalley for my free ARC ebook!

With apologies to the author, I just found this to be over written and not at all enjoyable to read. I don’t think the writing style is suited to my preferred reading!

Thank you NetGalley and Scribe UK for the chance to read and review this book.

While Thunderhead is an excellent depiction on domestic violence and the forms it takes, the 109 pages should not be read lightly. The stream of consciousness style is well done but thats not an easy thing to read and requires a lot of focus; to be honest, had the book been longer I may not have finished it. That being said, it may an excellent jump back into this style or the type of focus needed for it if you're out of practice.

Thunderhead by Miranda Darling is an astutely written novel exploring motherhood and the patriarchy.

This story tells the events that occur over a day. An intimate portrait of suburban life, a mother and wife who is in a strained marriage but voices her views on how she sees herself and how she is being perceived by others. It takes form as a stream of thoughts that filter out her worries and concerns. The reader feels the anxieties and struggles of this character and with her watch her life transform.

I can see what the author was trying to do with this book, her commentary on suburbia and young motherhood is interesting, albeit a bit repetitive. The writing was certainly unique and I enjoyed the steady stream of consciousness that this book was written from. The entire plot of this book takes place over one day, however much of the book felt tired and confusing. It just wasn’t for me, I didn’t like the main character, format, or choppy writing style.