David Horne

Good read but a few inaccuracies and plot holes. The villain travels by canal from Norwich to the Fens along canals with locks. There are no canals in this area, just rivers. The island is obviously fictitious, which is fine, but off the coast of Aberdeen. He mentions one of the heroes picking up a boulder from chalky soil on the island, but their is no chgalk in that part of the UK. The spycatchers track him to Aberdeen where they realise he may have escaped by boat, but none of the spycatchers thinks he might be on the 10 mile long island which is only 10 or 15 miles offshore with high cliffs. Surely they might have guessed that he may have gone there?

In many ways better than the Salt Path as she demonstrates her ability to use her fabulous command of the English language to describe nature. I love the way she moves back and forth through her life with Moth and earlier in her childhood. I couldn't put the book down - that is until we got to Iceland. I suspect the publishers didn't do their job as experts on publishing what the reader wants. Iceland had many good bits, but it was overlong and could have developed the theme of Moth's resilience in the face of his degenerative disease much more succinctly. In fact Iceland could have been a whole book in itself, but not tagged on the end of the first 2/3rds of a gorgeous book. Nonetheless, it was a great read and I am in awe. 5 stars for Raynor Winn, but one removed due to bad editorial advice.