Where the wind blows
by Sandra Arnold
Where the Wind Blows tells the story of a family through vignettes of their experiences in three very different countries – Brazil, New Zealand and Oman.
Alexa and Rob have three children but the book centres around the couple and their youngest child Beth. The book hinges on Beth’s death in New Zealand in her early twenties, as the possibilities of her life were starting to emerge.
Arnold excels in her descriptions of location, creating memorable images of the places Alexa and Rob choose to live. The detail is so well done I felt like I could be reading a memoir rather than a novel. Arnold describes both the physical settings and the communities of people who Alexa and Rob meet and socialise with, creating a comprehensive feel of each place. There were a few points in the narrative where I felt I couldn’t keep track of the characters, of whom there are many, and the connections between whom can be hard to follow.
Beth is drawn in a way that makes you feel the world is a much sadder place for her loss and also leads you to wonder how her parents can ever recover from her death. Somehow, Oman – with its complete otherness – is part of a solution for healing that is both surprising and convincing.
Alexa and Rob return briefly to Brazil after living in Oman and find sadness and closure in the changes there, particularly when they reunite with Beth’s boyfriend from her teenage years and his new partner. Alexa and Rob then return to New Zealand to learn how to live their lives again with grief as part, but not the whole, of their existence.
Where the Wind Blows is a fulfilling read that may well leave you going back through its pages to refresh your memory of the many beautiful pictures Arnold draws with her words.
by Sandra Arnold
Where the Wind Blows tells the story of a family through vignettes of their experiences in three very different countries – Brazil, New Zealand and Oman.
Alexa and Rob have three children but the book centres around the couple and their youngest child Beth. The book hinges on Beth’s death in New Zealand in her early twenties, as the possibilities of her life were starting to emerge.
Arnold excels in her descriptions of location, creating memorable images of the places Alexa and Rob choose to live. The detail is so well done I felt like I could be reading a memoir rather than a novel. Arnold describes both the physical settings and the communities of people who Alexa and Rob meet and socialise with, creating a comprehensive feel of each place. There were a few points in the narrative where I felt I couldn’t keep track of the characters, of whom there are many, and the connections between whom can be hard to follow.
Beth is drawn in a way that makes you feel the world is a much sadder place for her loss and also leads you to wonder how her parents can ever recover from her death. Somehow, Oman – with its complete otherness – is part of a solution for healing that is both surprising and convincing.
Alexa and Rob return briefly to Brazil after living in Oman and find sadness and closure in the changes there, particularly when they reunite with Beth’s boyfriend from her teenage years and his new partner. Alexa and Rob then return to New Zealand to learn how to live their lives again with grief as part, but not the whole, of their existence.
Where the Wind Blows is a fulfilling read that may well leave you going back through its pages to refresh your memory of the many beautiful pictures Arnold draws with her words.
Review by Jane Shearer
Title: Where the wind blows
Author: Sandra Arnold
Publisher: Truth Serum Press
ISBN: 9 781923 000223
RRP: AU$25
Available: Print: https://www.lulu.com/shop/sandra-arnold/where-the-wind-blows/paperback/product-wjwepk.html
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBG8ZM6J
Author: Sandra Arnold
Publisher: Truth Serum Press
ISBN: 9 781923 000223
RRP: AU$25
Available: Print: https://www.lulu.com/shop/sandra-arnold/where-the-wind-blows/paperback/product-wjwepk.html
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CBG8ZM6J
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