Tasting Sunlight by Ewald Arenz (translated by Rachel Ward)

As I've mentioned many times before, my preferred genre is crime/psychological thrillers but it does me good to move away from those occasionally to other genres - to widen my reading experience but also to give a lighter side to contrast with the darkness of crime fiction. So, I'm having a mini run of other stuff just now and today's entry is a gorgeous debut novel. Tasting Sunlight by Ewald Arenz, translated by Rachel Ward is published by Orenda Books and out this month. Many thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on to the blog tour and to the publisher for my review copy.

The Blurb

Teenager Sally has just run away from a clinic where she is to be treated for anorexia. She’s furious with everything and everyone, and wants to be left in peace. Liss is in her forties, living alone on a large farm that she runs single-handedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people.

From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn’t like other adults; she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.

The first night lengthens into weeks as Sally starts to find pleasure in working with the bees, feeding the chickens, and harvesting potatoes. Eventually an unlikely friendship develops and these two damaged women slowly open up – connecting to each other, reconnecting with themselves, and facing the darkness in their pasts through their shared work on the land.

My Review

Well, this was an absolute delight! I love finding new authors (to me) and am trying to expand my reading of translated fiction and this was just a perfect addition.

Sally is 17 and fed up of people telling her what to do - her parents, her teachers, staff at the clinic she's just absconded from. Pretty much all adults, really, because they all seem to think they know what's best for her. So she runs away from the clinic, rucksack on her back and no phone. As she is walking she meets Liss whose trailer is stuck in a ditch, and helps her get it out. Asking nothing, Liss offers Sally a bed for a night and so begins a tale of friendship and belonging.

I loved the two women in this story. They don't have a huge supporting cast so must carry the story themselves. And because they are so beautifully drawn, they do this with ease. We don't know much about either woman when we start out. We know Sally is running away, we know she is angry. We know Liss is on her own, we soon learn she doesn't say much. Then the author brings out more details about them as we move through the book using flashback memories and dialogue to gently show us the pain that brought each woman to the place we meet them.

This is a slow paced novel because Liss's life is lived at a slower pace. No phone, no social media, a village still following old traditions. But this gives Sally time to look, to listen and to really appreciate the small things in life. And Liss is unusual - she doesn't question Sally, she doesn't judge when Sally doesn't eat much and doesn't react negatively when Sally's temper explodes. So Sally begins to calm. And what I really loved was that neither woman realised the impact of the other on their life until they were apart.

Liss runs a farm and nature and the outdoors play a huge part in this story. The birds that Sally really listens to for the first time, the sweetness of the honey pears she tastes. Everything is so richly described you can't help but be drawn in with the sights, sounds and smells. And through the women we see the joys to be found in reconnecting with nature.

I loved the author's writing which, of course, I am only able to read because of Rachel Ward's excellent translation so huge thanks to her. He just had a beautiful way of describing things (even unpleasant ones).

'the panic deep in her belly like an ugly, brutal dog that has just woken up and was about to slobber, bite, rampage its way through her.'

'And that was how she felt inwardly now. As if everything has flowed out of her, leaving her as a wasteland of mud. With all the ugly and harsh and overgrown things that usually lay hidden beneath the glittering surface of the water now sticking out. All the things that sink to the floor within you, where they rot and fester.'

'...the view was stunning. It was a picture like still water; as if you were quenching a thirst you hadn't previously noticed.'

Liss and Sally's relationship is not always easy and there are very definite downs amongst the ups. But, eventually, through their friendship they both rediscover love, joy and hope. Tasting Sunlight was a delight to read. A gorgeous story of friendship, understanding and belonging. And of the importance of slowing down, appreciating nature and finding joy in the small things. Loved it.

The Author

Ewald Arenz was born in Nurnberg in 1965, where he now teaches. He has won various national and regional awards for literature; among them the Bavarian State Prize for Literature and the great Nuremberg Prize for Literature. One of seven children, he enjoys nature, woodturning, biking, swimming, and drinking tea. He lives with his family in Germany.