A review by barbala
Private Rites by Julia Armfield

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thinking when swimming is not thinking, but something more like elevator music.

The sensation, then, no so much of being misunderstood as being understood too well at one time and then never again.

We love people before we notice we love them, but the act of naming the love makes it different, drags it out into a different light.

It's hard enough to live, she sometimes feels, without also having to think about it.