Margaret Messenger

The storyline was imaginative but the verbiage drove me nuts. I doubt if anyone read the book word for word without skipping paragraphs and pages. I liked the moral values and personalities of the characters

I found the writing and vivid descriptions of the wildlife on the Marsh beautiful. However the story was not plausible for me. There were too many non sequiturs and unanswered questions about Kya’s life I the Marsh and how she survived. Where were all the other Marsh people and how was it that she never saw them. The murder was not plausible or we weren’t told enough. The court case was weak so was the ending. As a biologist I find it hard to believe that Kya could, with no education, be able to identify, draw and classify all those plants, birds and animals and then publish. There has to be more to her education than told.

I couldn’t relate to the book at all. I thought that being a Pulitzer Prize winner it would be a good read. I was bored, couldn’t relate to Less or any of his characters. I skipped to the end to see if I had missed anything but I’m afraid it just didn’t grab me. I’m sad because I read the book after hearing Sean Greer’s interview with Richard Fidler which was excellent.