Reviews for BlueSpeedwell
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2023
A brave, poetic masterpiece - the novel explores some of the taboos of female sexuality and love in this beautiful and transporting novel. Not only would it make a great film it is so descriptive, but the writing techniques take the book to another level, arguably up there with the best.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2022
Tatania Strauss is a wonderful writer. I’m very fussy about what I read, generally sticking with classic literature and the best writers. This book is not out of place among the greats. Very much of our time in vernacular, it captures so beautifully the spirit and voice of a funny, sassy and sensual young woman.
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Spellbinding read from start to finish, buy this book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2023
This is experimental literary fiction at its best, and that's to say this is a fresh, original book full of invention to bend the possibilities of the novel form, which is at the same time utterly readable and compelling.
Tatiana Strauss's ability to notice and to capture the external and internal worlds of her characters is astouding.
I lived this book, in my head, the whole time I was reading it, and even after all the words ran out (ie it ended) I kept writing it in my head so it is endless, really, it stays with me. Now I can go back and read the first books in the trilogy. If you're wondering where to start, I'd say begin here with Blue Speedwell and read the others afterwards just because this is the book that was written first. Enjoy!
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Reviewed in the United States on 25 July 2022
I ordered BlueSpeedwell on an accident- I had misspelled another author's name (an extra "e"), whose book I wanted to buy as a gift for someone. When Bluespeedwell (and PussyWillow and DogRose too) arrived, I decided to keep them- I thought they'd be an easy summer read.
And good I kept it- I loved reading it! I knew nothing about the author, but her writing and especially the way she describes places or situations in which nothing quite happens, yet it makes your head spin then pause to savor the beautiful descriptions, was my favorite part. It felt like reading poetry. At times it reminded me of F. Scott Fitzgerald's style- yes, that kind of beautiful writing! And while Fitzgerald left me sad, almost depressed, this book carried a very optimistic and positive charge.
Characters are quite realistic (some more likable than the others), although not much description is provided, it is enough to visualize them. This is quite a talent.
I hope more people find BlueSpeedwell and give it a chance because it's so worth it! I enjoyed reading it and appreciated the beautiful language. I only hope DogRose and PussyWillow are just as good.
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An achingly poignant tale of love, loss and voyage …
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 June 2022
Tatiana Strauss’s poetic prose throughout Blue Speedwell is such a discovery.
She gives her touching protagonist, such a heightened and acute voice of experience - both ecstatic and anguished. Throughout, Strauss paints for us, such an achingly vivid portrait of how she perceives and experiences the world.
This book is a beautiful evocation of a young girl’s awakening on so many levels. An early encounter and subsequent loss takes on a mystical hue as she is propelled into the world and further experiences, with a wrench at its heart.
Living for this young girl appears to be a high wire act, her loss and her discovery of self, an electrical current running across every page … this book is set alight with feeling and intensity of experience. .. a very rare thing it is to be so affected. … which will lead me to read more in the series.
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