Coastliners

Via

I just finished reading Coastliners by Joanne Harris. I'm a fan of some of her other books (including Five Quarters of the Orange but more so Blackberry Wine) and when I read the blurb for this one online I was intrigued. The story reminded me a bit of Pepper Ridge Lane (which, by the way, still lives :) and I wanted to see how Harris dealt with some of the same issues.

On reading the book however I found that it was actually quite different to Pepper Ridge. And I was glad for it. Normally I tend to stay away from books similar to my own ideas, but I really loved Blackberry Wine so much I wanted to give this a try.

I suppose the main difference between Pepper Ridge and Coastliners is the simple fact that Coastliners is set on a small, isolated island. The community there are generations-old, their history is complex and intertwined and their issues are very locale relevant. With Pepper Ridge the township of Mount Houser is much newer as are its occupants. Yet I suppose there are some overlapping themes in that there is both a girl returning home, with little idea of what to expect and finding herself faced with a changing community and the threat of encroaching development. So, yeah in that respect, similar. But otherwise the characters, themes and setting are all quite different.

I enjoyed this book, though I found it quite long. There were however some excellent twists and turns that made me both cringe and sigh in relief! I like that :)

The sad thing about this book is the common theme that it holds to many disappearing villages all around the world. Globalisation has brought many good things, yet the loss of these small places as their young people leave to find jobs in big cities may not be one of them.

If you like stories of personal accomplish, communities coming together in the face of a common enemy and some good humour thrown in then I'm sure you'd enjoy Coastliners.