Reviews
This is a wonderful read. The time and place of this moving story are beautifully depicted.
- Alexander McCall Smith, author of 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'
A beautifully written novel. I was captivated from beginning to end.
- Kate Glanville
Collins writes with a vivid, descriptive style which transports the reader to different landscapes, building intrigue and mystery throughout the journey.
- Siwan Jones
With clear, evocative prose, Siân Collins' debut novel speaks quietly of a deep love of place. Between the widely contrasting worlds of rural Carmarthenshire, with its woods and always-green fields, and the tough grasses and snakes beneath the lowering shadows of the Drakensberg mountains, South Africa, she spins a compelling and heart-warming story of mystery, loss and leaving.
- Jessica Seaton, author of 'Gather Cook Feast'; co-founder of Toast
Slowly at first, but with increasing momentum and intensity, the reader is drawn in to personal histories that also tell the story of a South Africa deeply damaged by aggressive colonisation and hurtling towards apartheid.
- Suzy Ceulan Hughes, Gwales
To say this is good old fashioned storytelling is to be in no way demeaning of Sîan Collins' novel – quite the opposite. The plotting is sure-footed and compels the reader to join Margaret on her journey, and to hope she manages to avoid the predations of the scheming lawyer and avoid the puff adders that lie coiled and dangerous about the place. The writing is crisp and clear and never showy or fussy, relying on the simple question "What next?" which is the simplest engine of narrative to keep the pages turning.
- Jon Gower, Nation.cymru
Siân Collins has woven an engrossing and beautifully rendered exploration of the meaning of home - with plenty of mystery thrown in.
- Jenny White, Western Mail
