The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

What would you do if you had one chance to go back in time? Who would you meet?

I have read a few of Evaristo’s books now and have enjoyed them all. This is one of her earlier ones but I think this is her most different.

I’ve never really been into reading ‘memoirs’. The only one I guess I have read is Gok Wan’s when I was 12 and recently I listened to the audiobook of footballer, Beth Mead’s. I always felt I have to be pretty into the person to read about their life. This book is different and I came across it purely by chance!

I got given this book for Christmas, and was initially surprised as it wasn’t from my Wishlist. My boyfriend, knowing I enjoyed Maggie O’Farrell’s last novel, Hamnet, got it for me. He also thought it was right up my street too, set in the Italian Renaissance, and I have to say I was very intrigued.

It is a bit shameful to me I even read this. It was not part of my stack of unread books- so did not help in lessening my pile. But it drew me in, and here we are…!

This book was a delightful, heart-warming but also heart-wrenching modern Scottish novel. Steeped in Glaswegian small-town/suburb culture, a lot of sayings, characters, and definitely the family morals of this book were somewhat familiar to me.

Although this is another Zola and is part of his Rougon- Macquart family series, this book marks a distinct parting from his usual style. Far removed from Zola’s usual grinding poverty and misery, this novel has an ethereal and fairy-tale like quality, which was, upon researching, Zola’s intention for the book.

Uh-Oh, Zola again...

I was given this book a while back for a birthday, and was excited to read it for so long. To my disappointment, it didn’t live up to expectations, nor the praise that lavishes its’ front cover.

Hello, Summer Reading!