A review of 'The Mistletoe Bride and Other Haunting Tales' by Kate Mosse
Note: The following review was originally published at Amazon.co.uk on 18th. September 2015. Link to original review: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R1U2H41WVGWOA?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp
This is a collection of short stories by Kate Mosse. The landscapes of Sussex and Brittany form a recurrent background theme to her writing. Mosse writes lyrically, and at times it is almost like reading poetry wrapped in prose. This stylism reaches a crescendo in her tribute to Debussy's 'Pelléas et Mélisande', 'La Fille de Mélisande':
[quote]"White is the colour of remembrance. The hoar frost on the blades of grass that cling to the castle walls, the hollow between the ribs and the heart. A shroud, a winding sheet, a ghost.
Absence.
The trees are silhouettes, mute sentinels, slipping from green to grey to black in the twilight. The forest holds its secrets."[unquote]
If, like me, you enjoy intricate, descriptive writing, but with an edge, then you won't regret reading 'The Mistletoe Bride'. An author I have overlooked until now, Kate Mosse reminds me very much of Joanne Harris, whose books I also enjoy. She captures the atmosphere of her stories perfectly, gently guiding the reader into worlds that we can taste and smell and that place us in the native setting, whether it is southern England, southern France or the violent coast of Brittany.
[quote]"White is the colour of remembrance. The hoar frost on the blades of grass that cling to the castle walls, the hollow between the ribs and the heart. A shroud, a winding sheet, a ghost.
Absence.
The trees are silhouettes, mute sentinels, slipping from green to grey to black in the twilight. The forest holds its secrets."[unquote]
If, like me, you enjoy intricate, descriptive writing, but with an edge, then you won't regret reading 'The Mistletoe Bride'. An author I have overlooked until now, Kate Mosse reminds me very much of Joanne Harris, whose books I also enjoy. She captures the atmosphere of her stories perfectly, gently guiding the reader into worlds that we can taste and smell and that place us in the native setting, whether it is southern England, southern France or the violent coast of Brittany.
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