Sophie Ward (1) (1964–)

‘’The university library was housed in an unimposing corner of North London, halfway up the Holloway Road. A small campus occupied the grounds of a former landfill site and seagulls still circled overhead, drawn by the scent of waste. When Isobel walked back from lunch the shadows of the birds followed her in the winter sunlight.’’

December 1990. A teenage girl disappears in the days leading up to Christmas. Detective Sergeant Carter finds a connection between this case and a terrible show more incident that took place in 1975, in the face of Isabel, a young woman who tries to escape the past. What seems an almost routine case of a missing child becomes a race against time in which fear, revenge and retribution pull the strings.

Following her exceptional Love and Other Thought Experiments, Sophie Ward creates a story that will haunt you long after you have turned the last page, with its superb atmosphere, the strong characters and the depth of its important, relatable themes. The Schoolhouse is a place of ‘’alternative’’ education, associating itself with freedom and independence and initiative. But even the safest nests can become a breeding place for predators, and even the finest school can prove incapable of protecting the most vulnerable of its students.

Within the context of education, we see how lack of communication and understanding leads to isolation and fear. We witness the subtle, yet hurtful ways in which the one who is deemed as the Other is ostracised by a society that feels insecure without the desirable uniformity. We experience its fervent wish for the past to remain hidden, devoted to the absurd motto ‘’We don’t talk about it, therefore it does not exist and it never happened.’’ We understand the impact of a macho community that cannot accept a female police officer and views teenage girls as nothing more than easy prey.

In beautiful langue communicating the thoughts and interactions of characters that ‘’feel’’ as real as our own selves, Sophie Ward creates a moving, haunting novel about trauma, the tentacles of the past and the bravery of the human soul. There is darkness and injustice. But there is light and hope and courage.

An exceptional work, one of the finest novels of the year.

‘’Clouds drooped over the campus square. A few students leaned against benches, eating chips and smoking. A solitary Christmas star in gold tinsel shimmered from a lamp post. Isobel walked across the icy concrete, feeling the cold spread through the soles of her shoes up into her toes, and letting her breath condense in the wool under her chin. She went back to the library as the last streetlight flickered on. The children were gone.’’

Many thanks to Corsair for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ show less

‘’There is the physical knowledge of another person but can there be an understanding of what it is like to have their experience?’’

Eliza and Rachel are happily married, their antitheses complete each other and the plans for a child is well underway. But one moment changes everything. When Rachel is convinced that an ant has found its way into her brain, an uphill climb with uncertain results begins. Arthur, their brilliant son, will have to face a series of questions, losses, and show more changes. In a poignant series of stories-within-the story, we as readers will come to consider our identity, our personality and perception, our very own sense of existence.

‘’We have travelled. Ships we have made, from our bodies, and launched upon the oceans.’’

Sophie Ward has created one of the most interesting, innovative (allow me the use of the word), and exciting novels we’ll ever read. As you open this babushka, you’ll find each character of each story/chapter is connected to the next, with Eliza, Rachel and Arthur at the heart of the novel, And you will also find a rather peculiar character in a haunting, sad and extremely poignant chapter. Each part of this beautifully crafted story is developed on the basis of a famous philosophical experiment. Encountering quite a few shocking discoveries along the way, we’ll turn our eyes inside ourselves while thoughts will start haunting our minds.

‘’Humans like a little blood themselves. Blood pudding. Rare steak. Blood of your enemies, blood of your heroes. Transubstantiation. Delicious.’’

The belief in a kind of continuity and stability, the desire for a future ruled by safety and certainty (what a beautiful, absurd Utopia..), the institution of family, the ‘’rules’’ that permeate the fragile, most difficult and most precious relationship between parents and children, the need for privacy and the implications of secrecy. Misunderstandings, confusion, estrangement, loss and grief, the dubious gifts of Technology. In the end, we find ourselves in doubt and full of questions. What is genuine? What is a facade of what once was? How is History made? How can our lives be born, developed and ended because of an utterly arbitrary sequence of events?

I was genuinely moved by this beautiful novel, especially by the story of Ali and Damon. In my opinion, Love and Other Thought Experiments should be regarded as one of the great works of our century. How did this marvel NOT win the Booker Prize? Yet again, why am I surprised…

‘’You do not know what gods know, you do not feel what we do not feel. That is just how it is. So I look for ways of communicating with you without making impossible demands. I am not a language to be learned or an animal to be understood. I am your creator. I am the singularity.’’

Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ show less

This surpassed my expectations in every aspect. I was intrigued by the small Goodreads summary but it was just a small part of what Sophie Ward has actually packed in this relatively short read.

Reading this was like piecing together a puzzle, every single thing was explained in the end. The story was just very well-crafted and the style of storytelling (basing every chapter on a thought experiment, introducing multiple human and non-human narrators, etc.) was fresh and creative and I loved show more it so much.

One of the things I appreciated the most was how the philosophy and the thought experiments were blended with the story, it gave the reader the liberty to decide how much they want to engage with it. You can go all it or you can choose to distance yourself and just enjoy the beautiful story. show less

This surpassed my expectations in every aspect. I was intrigued by the small Goodreads summary but it was just a small part of what Sophie Ward has actually packed in this relatively short read.

Reading this was like piecing together a puzzle, every single thing was explained in the end. The story was just very well-crafted and the style of storytelling (basing every chapter on a thought experiment, introducing multiple human and non-human narrators, etc.) was fresh and creative and I loved show more it so much.

One of the things I appreciated the most was how the philosophy and the thought experiments were blended with the story, it gave the reader the liberty to decide how much they want to engage with it. You can go all it or you can choose to distance yourself and just enjoy the beautiful story. show less