132,585
edits
Changes
From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to searchTirzah and the Prince of Crows by Deborah Kay Davies (view source)
Revision as of 12:48, 27 August 2020
, 12:48, 27 August 2020no edit summary
|summary= This is a beautiful, quiet book about a young girl who is struggling to decide what she believes and who she wants to be. Raised in a strict household within a strict religious community Tirzah starts to look at the world around her with new eyes. Is this really what she wants from life? More importantly, is this really all that she is? As she begins to experiment and take risks, she learns what she wants and what she will not put up with any longer. This is more than a coming of age story; it is also a gentle and lyrical love story to the Welsh countryside and the people who live in it.
|rating=4.5
|buy=NoYes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=400
The plot is like the gentle unravelling of a ball of wool; it's seemingly inconsequential but, without realising it, Tirzah's previous life is slowly unravelled. At first glance, nothing much happens, Tirzah lives a very straightforward life, but on reflection, each action, no matter how small, has an impact in shaping Tirzah's opinions and character. The negative actions of those in her religious community show her who she does not want to be, and the downward slope of those who obey. She begins to realise that there is more to people than she previously thought, and as she slowly matures, she can see the impact people have on those around them. It also slowly dawns on Tirzah as her O- Levels approach that she has the potential for more, and possibly a life outside of the confines of her village and her family if she wants it.
My only disappointment with this book is one that cannot be helped, it ends! I became so caught up in Tirzah's life as she works towards fully understanding what she wants and who she is, and finally , she has a great epiphany at the end of the story, then it abruptly ends. I wish we could know more; what does she do next? Does she act on her epiphany? Does she achieve her goals? But the story must end somewhere, and what we see in this novel is a snapshot of a young girl's life at the moment of her choosing her path and it is testament to Davies writing and the beauty of this book that you cannot help but become invested in the character of Tirzah.
Alternatively, for something similar you could try [[The Lost Letters of William Woolf by Helen Cullen]]. We also have a review of [[True Things About Me by Deborah Kay Davies]].
{{amazontext|amazon=1786074443}}
