Essie Fox's "Somnambulist"

 

You can find this book here.

First, let's learn some things!

A somnambulist is a sleepwalker; or, someone who walks in their sleep. 

If you want to know a little bit about the actual painting in the story (and shown next to the title page); here is the auction page that shows a catalogue of the item and hands it has been through. There is also a rough guide on the painter here at a general art history site. Both sites I would use for interest only (just in case). 

Now, for the novel ...

The novel is set in the late 1800s (which matches the time of the painting by Millais). It centres around Phoebe Turner a young girl who lives with her strictly religious mother Maud and her aunt Cissy who lives for performing on stage. One night, Phoebe is able to sneak out of her house to watch her aunt perform. There, she is drawn to a strange man, Nathaniel Samuels, who impacts all their lives when he hires her to be the companion to his reclusive wife.

This plot seems straightforward. But I have missed a lot of what is happening within this novel: the main theme of secrets. This is a big deal. And, obviously, if the members of these families communicated at all properly with anyone, there wouldn't be such haunting horrors and tensions between characters. 

Horrors, though, might be too strong a word. It is a gothic novel, which leads to the idea of horror elements; but don't expect gore or monsters. It is more a slow with tensions you possibly see coming. Maybe this is where the horror lies, because characters cannot see what their choices, or lack thereof, have led to. 

I found the settings to be strong and the feel of places in England for the time to be fitting. The atmosphere also was very full. The characters may go either way for you: you may find Phoebe more passive and frustrating, you may not. This could be how youth related historically, it may not. Perhaps read it and decide for yourself. Probably more for an historical fiction reader than a horror reader though. 

Links for you

Author read-a-likes:

Wuthering heights

Emily Bronte

The gothic elements and characters' emotional pulls are stronger here; but the setting, time period, genre are similar.

Picture book

Jo Baker

The time period is different; but the focus on historical fiction and secrets is similar.

Layla AlAmmar’s “The pact we made”

This book can be found here.

This debut novel follows the character Dahlia as a woman living in Kuwait that straddles both modernity and traditional cultural values in her life. This is a very strong theme within the novel as Dahlia is almost thirty; which is the cut-off point for being a worthwhile wife and bride for a man to choose.

This can be seen within the title, which refers to the fact that when young, Dahlia and her two friends all made a pact to be married by twenty-seven. This itself; though Dahlia wanted out of the pact, shows the pressures of women and their roles even in modern Kuwait that Dahlia is expected to live up to.

So, this novel is all about self-discovery, self-identity and #metoo; but also the trials of just existing within society. A lot of the characters tend to struggle with life and its choices (most humans could); whether from Kuwait or not. The added layer of this novel? AlAmmar’s Kuwaiti traditional roles and ways of thinking adds dimension and struggle that I as a Westerner may not have ever encountered if in similar situations. This made parts of the novel much more difficult for me to read as I struggled with such traditional views; which Dahlia seemed to have to manoeuvre through as well.

Saying that; the plot is slow-going. This is about Dahlia’s progression through this almost “final” year of her life (or the beginning of her new one if it works out … not telling you though). It means that even for the secondary characters there is a sense of claustrophobia to their lives that can’t be escaped (possibly) and this can also slow the book down. 

Character is the driving force of the novel. It is mostly all about Dahlia and her processes and this, again, becomes rather claustrophobic. This is because it is first-person and so her voice and thoughts become sometimes a little overpowering outside of the story. Whilst this lends itself to strengthen a character trying to cope with trauma, some of it may push readers to the side.

In truth, this could be another layer to the novel: everyone is selfish and focussed ultimately on their own thoughts, goals and issues and trying to get out of, or through, them (generally). This would play well for a young adult audience, even with Dahlia almost pushing thirty (given the traditional values of the family in this novel, she is treated like a child and so definitely still fits). However, it might be a tough read, not in terms of language (though Arabic is used at times – well too, I might add), but because of Dahlia’s consuming thoughts. However, overall, the insight into the culture and an individual trying to balance and find their place in it was very well done.

Links for you:

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/2020/01/10/qa-layla-alammar

Okay, so I am starting with an interview by AlAmmar with this blog “Reading women”. Probably a little controversial connecting between blogs, but this gives insight into AlAmmar’s writing processes.

Read-a-likes in the Library:

How we disappeared

Jing-Jing Lee

Read-a-likes in cloudLibrary:

Exit West

Mohsin Hamid