Welcome to Litsy!

Three women in three different times all dealing with harm caused by men from accusations of witchcraft, to marital abuse, to strangers lying in wait in the dark. Their stories are morose and without nuance.The writing was lovely but not enough to satisfy me. I have wanted to read this one for quite some time but am left underwhelmed.

This is bleak, women being broken by men over and over again. It‘s about 3 different women in the 1800‘s, 1950‘s and present day. Some stories I enjoyed more than others. I think it would have been a better book if it didn‘t try to cover so much. I felt like some of the men were only 1 dimensional and I didn‘t think the ghost was needed. I also found the scene at the funeral laughable. But still a pick as it‘s message was clear, nothing changes 😞

#12Booksof2022 On the eleventh day of Christmas, my reading gave to me...a book full of raw, messy, F@$% the patriarchy energy.

I loved it, it made me rage and cry and feel. Three women attempting to claw their ways to themselves, while surrounded by men trying to pin them down.

@Andrew65

1. Tagged. It was a top read!

2. Nope. It's the sort of thing I'd enjoy being gifted, but never buy for myself.

3. I read A Christmas Carol every year. It so wonderfully sets the mood. And always at least one cheesy Holiday romance 😁

#WondrousWednesday

Messy (in the best way), and raw, and powerful, and heartbreaking, and infuriating. Three women at three different times, all trying to live, love, and find themselves in a patriarchal world that wants to force them into neat, quiet boxes. Parts were eerie and Gothic, parts were filled with historical superstition, parts were contemporary with a modern sense of a disconnected world. I could not put it down.

TW in comments

"I do not fucking taste like peaches...I taste of soil and salt and the motherfucking ocean. The fucking depths of the darkest parts of the ocean with the oil slicks and the scaled fish and the motherfucking sea scorpions. That's what I taste of. And sometimes, beetroot."

This was fun to do.
Also the cover is so perfect, like no filter needed it‘s just gorgeous!

Reading for book club. I finished it a few days ago and immediately starting reading it again. Looking forward to the discussion. Clever book that deals with issues , I think , of men and their power over time. She does not preach or actually spell it out. An excellent read. I‘ve never read a book twice in one go. Picking up more on second read.
Set in one of my favourite places, Scotland.

This was exceptionally good. Gripping, dark and complicated. I absolutely loved it and I almost want to pick it up and start it all over again. Very bleak and with too many trigger warnings to fit in a Litsy review 😱. Do yourself a favour and get your hands on it if you dare. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Upnext for book club. Banh mi accompaniment 😋. #ozfiction

There are so many ways society (men) have found to crush women. But women continue to try to hold each other up.
Beautiful writing, if very bleak.

Today‘s #bookhaul 2 on the left from yesterdays order- one off Obama‘s list for last year and one recommended by Paula and one from Cindy ❤️ Barack is in good company.
Thanks Cindy - arrived very quickly.
Paula- my cover is not nearly as nice as yours!

This somewhat complex novel is beautifully written with a strong sense of place and the ambience of a bleak Scottish seaside. Bass Rock has remained the same for centuries but the people around it change. We follow three timelines, Sarah in the 1700s, Ruth in post WW2 and Vivienne in modern times. There are also snippets of other lives and violent scenes that jump in to make themselves heard. I‘ll say more about TWs in a spoiler comment below ⬇️

It took some time for me to get into this book, but before I knew it I was completely hooked and needed to know that was happening next to the characters.

Three storylines connected by the Bass Rock. Sarah in the early 1700s accused of being a witch. Ruth after WWII. In the present Viv.

This book doesn‘t portrait men in a great way, but shows what men are willing to do to women to get their way and how men protect each other.

#BookReport

I finished Sister Outsider #SheSaid and continued Four Hundred Souls #400souls

I finished Attrib and HollowPox, and read Pumpkinheads and The Bass Rock

I listened to the audio book and perhaps that isn‘t the best format for this book. Following the various timelines and the connections between them were difficult, especially since I listened in bits & pieces. (Plus it‘s 10 hours.) Hence, this one will fall into the utterly forgettable category for me.

Told from the perspectives of three women, all in different time periods, this novel is troubling, funny, and devastating.
The story illuminates the ways that violence against women shapes relationships and lives, sometimes leading to death. Be aware that the book contains many descriptions of this violence. Wyld is adept at weaving these storylines together to craft a complete and complex work. I will be thinking about this novel for awhile.

Saw some cherry blossoms and listened to The Bass Rock on my #audiowalk today 🌸 🎧 I‘m enjoying the book, especially the setting, and the narration brings it to life

I put this as a pick but for some reason I didn't love it as much as I thought I would! I think because it features Scotland and the Bass Rock which is in the region I used to live many, many years ago. Three women, Sarah, Ruth and Viv, their lives are linked through the centuries. #books

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 77
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

I‘ve tagged my favourite read in December and you can find other great books on this month‘s roundup post: https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2020/12/december-2020-reading-round-up.html

Two main storylines plus two minor ones entwine in a compelling tale about women across time who either succumb to, or survive, male violence. The unforgiving Scottish coastal setting matches the bleak & brutal theme. There‘s also a beauty, like sunshine on water, in the way these women are able to help each other to avoid the harmful actions of men.

“Honestly. If I‘d known men were going to be such hard work, I‘d have moved to France and found myself a lesbian.”

“Mom says you‘re seeing someone?” says Katherine.
“What?”
“Says you‘ve got that stoaty thing about you that you get.”
“Stoaty?”
“You know. She said, like a… stoat in the snow—flicking about—like you might run up a trouser leg.”
“Fuck‘s sake.”
My sister smiles.

(Internet photo)

Arguably a triumph, I don't know what's meant by "modern" here, but *gothic"?! No, I don't think so. There's a big old house with a ghost, sure, but they're not menacing. And the Bass Rock itself is just there, an unquestioned presence down the centuries, like the threat of male violence (in various forms) against women in the three interwoven stories. It's very good (as you see, above, I read it in two days) but the blurb mis-sells it somewhat.

I could be decorating the tree instead of reading....

I recently got some new books. The top one was a present and the next two I bought myself. They all look really lovely. #tbr

So I'm liking it but this crazy pressure to read it in 7 days is impossible. I'm going to return it for now and just put my name back on the list when the demand calms down. 😊

4.5 🌟 One of the best books I have read this year. Menacing, gothic, mysterious and haunting. Multiple time lines interweave to create the haunting effect. This book explores toxic masculinity and its effects on generations. Beautiful writing. A must read.

4.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's set in Scotland and about the lives of women - both interests of mine - but I found it confusing with little resolution. It does reinforce how violence against women by men is never ending.

My favorite accessory is probably my flip flops - live in them all summer
No - well except for Las Vegas
Tagged booked

Tagging @Coleen_Nieto @PurpleTulipGirl @SaturnDoo @AmyK1 @TheAromaofBooks
@MoonWitch94 #thoughtfulthursday

Just my kind of thoughtful, no rush story. But there‘s so much going on! I loved this. Sarah, Ruth and Viviane‘s stories are told from different points in history, with the Bass Rock ever present off the coast of North Berwick (Scotland). Themes such as relationships between men and women, mothers and daughters; cruelty and abuse; mental health; the difference between what‘s expected of women and what they actually want to do, are all looked at.

I loved this. A gripping story of 3 interesting women in the 18th century, 1950s & today. Brooding setting in coastal Scotland, large gothic house & possible ghosts but Wyld grounds the story in everyday life, with strong writing, dark humour & real, unvarnished characters. Controlled tension develops into a theme of domestic violence. Wyld perfectly captures its nuances & insidiousness in just a few scenes. Powerful, it will stay with me.

I loved this. A gripping story of 3 interesting women in the 18th century, 1950s & today. Brooding setting in coastal Scotland, large gothic house & possible ghosts but Wyld grounds the story in everyday life, with strong writing, dark humour & real, unvarnished characters. Controlled tension develops into a theme of domestic violence. Wyld perfectly captures its nuances & insidiousness in just a few scenes. Powerful, it will stay with me.

The Bass Rock looms over North Berwick, threatening and looming those suffering in its shadow. It is the past that the characters can't escape and the threat of male violence that each one has accepted as an inevitable part of life. With a tightly controlled narrative spanning three time periods Wyld's writing in both delicate and brutal. This is a psychologically astute portrait of toxic masculinity and a difficult read but it is worth the effort

Evie Wyld‘s new novel, The Bass Rock, stretches across centuries to examine the various forms of violence visited upon women by men. It's not an “easy“ read: the shifts in perspective are disorienting by design, and each scene is painted so vividly that one can practically smell the salty sea air. Unsettling, uncanny, and unforgiving. Extended review for subscribers at http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/ #NewBooks #LiteraryFiction