A brillaint antique timepiece!
- Book: The Silent Tide
- Location: England, London
- Author: Rachel Hore
“Your choices are your only freedom.”
Lailah Gifty Akita, a Ghanaian and founder of Smart Youth Volunteers Foundation, quotes this remarkable line.
Rachel Hore, an English author from London, has penned down a charming and alluring story about past and present connected by a manuscript in her new book, The Silent Tide.
I have heard that all of Rachel Hore’s novels are very compelling because of her ability to create authentic characters against the historical backdrop. Her latest novel follows the lives of Emily and Isabel, two women moving in the world of publishing separated by many years. Emily is given the opportunity to find out more about a recently deceased famous author, Hugh Morton, whose biography will be published by her publishing house. She is soon drawn into the world of this famous author when she comes across Morton’s previous novel with a dedication to a woman named, “Isabel” rather than Morton’s dreadful widow, Jacqueline. Emily is buckled down to learn more about Isabel’s untold story. Isabel- the fragile, little determined girl, who ran away from her home to search for a job and accidently stumbled upon the publishing world in the post-war London in the year 1948. Falling in love with Huge Morton was something extraordinary for Isabel but getting married to the same man was something equally horrifying for her. But what became of Isabel is a complete mystery to Emily. So could Emily learn about the last chapter of Isabel’s life from Morton’s terrifying widow?
I liked Emily and her publishing job right away. The author has given us a glimpse into the world of publishing which can sometimes be a tedious job, but a lot of fun while discovering new authors and their manuscripts. But I could not agree with her relationship with a struggling poet, Matthew, who used to treat her very poorly and still Emily, loved to hold on to his thoughts! I thought Emily was the epitome of a modern-day independent woman, instead I found that she is lacking from any self-respect since she clung to her boyfriend’s memories even after her break-up. Hence that disappointed me a bit!
I not only loved Isabel’s character, but also adored her as well as Rachel Hore for portraying her side of story in the form of a memoir. The author did not fed us with Isabel’s everyday life instead she gave us a glimpse into her life and that kept me on the loop to keep on anticipating about her mysterious life-story. And the way the author has written about her issues made me empathizing with Isabel’s situation. The author addressed all the issues faced by the women back in the 50s from finding a job, to making a decision, to getting pregnant against her wishes, everything has been portrayed very sensitively by the author thus presenting us with a long, well-researched historical novel in easy and approachable prose.
The author moved coherently between the past and the present and right at the end of a chapter, I knew what I wanted to know next. The author’s narration is smooth like a free-flowing river. And the mystery about Isabel’s past will pull you into the depth of the river. The setting of Norfolk and London was done quite strikingly, since I felt myself swaying from the contemporary London life to the 1950s life in Norfolk. And oh my! The beauty of the landscape was very well captured by the author.
Don’t miss out this intriguing and evocative masterpiece!
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