Lead Review
- Book: Under an Amber Sky
- Location: Kotor, Prcanj
- Author: Rose Alexander
“God used six days to make the earth and the seventh to make the Bay of Kotor”
The opening pages of the novel land with a punch. Sophie and Matt have been together for 15 years and Matt dies unexpectedly, which naturally throws Sophie into a deep period of mourning and loss. Where do you go, what do you do when you lose your partner at a relatively young age when the future should be opening up before you as a couple? Sophie’s friend Anna (with toddler Tomasz in tow) whisks her off to Montenegro for a break, and in a snap decision it is there that Sophie decides she is going live.
She has even found a suitable – if somewhat run-down – little house, on the edge of the Bay of Kotor. Even the prospect of heading into Winter doesn’t diminish Sophie’s commitment to this new stage of life. She has to find a strength of character, away from her friends and family, but in some ways this is perfect for her to engage with the grieving process.
A discovery in her house of a letters between two people called Mira and Dragon during World War 2 leads her to seek out the help of Darko, who over several weeks translates the writing for her. It is a poignant exploration of the period under Italian occupation where many men were imprisoned on the island of Mamula, where deprivation and death was rife. The split narrative enables the author to delve into the amazing – and often violent and sad – history of Montenegro, from the Romans through the war, the great earthquake of 1979 when much of Kotor had to be rebuilt and to the war of the 1990s. Her characters tour from the Roman mosaics at Visan to Herceg Novi which is apparently the sunniest town in the country.
From her window, Sophie can see Mount Lovcen, the symbol of Montenegro. As she finds her feet in this new country, her experiences always come back to the loss of her husband, it seems as though she will never be able to move on. Frank soon appears in her life, an amiable rogue, who lodges with her in return for renovations to her house (and his appearance on the scene, his character and his quick move into her house feel like random factors that do not sit easily in the narrative).
Before long the Winter moves into summer (and the different seasons are very important in Montenegrin culture, as the author outlines at the beginning of the novel) and she soon finds herself surrounded by friends and supportive people.
This is a poignant and charming novel, about a group of people with Sophie at the heart, who are making their way in a beautiful, foreign country. It is a delightfully described country in the novel, tiny “with a population not much greater than that of Glasgow” and after reading this, you will undoubtedly want to visit!
Please wait...
