Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller

☆☆☆☆☆
.PDF, 301 pages
Expected Publication: May 18th 2021 by Tin House

About the Book:
At fifty-one years old, twins Jeanie and Julius still live with their mother, Dot, in rural isolation in the English countryside. The cottage they have shared their entire lives is their only protection against the modernizing world around them. Inside its walls, they make music, and in its garden, they grow everything they need to survive. To an outsider, it looks like poverty; to them, it is home. But when Dot dies unexpectedly, the world they’ve so carefully created begins to fall apart. The cottage they love, and the security it offered, is taken back by their landlord, exposing the twins to harsh truths and even harsher realities. Seeing a new future, Julius becomes torn between the loyalty he feels towards his sister and his desire for independence, while Jeanie struggles to find work and a home for them both. And just when it seems there might be a way forward, a series of startling secrets from their mother’s past come to the surface, forcing the twins to question who they are, and everything they know of their family’s history.

My Review:

I enjoyed this book so much. That's a funny thing to say about a book that gut punches you. I felt such compassion for Jeanie and Julius, but as you read you find it makes you see that you can have hope and find kindness in people when  needed and that also made it such a moving story.

This tale was one that wrapped itself around my heart because of the uniqueness of the characters and the reality of the difficulties experienced by this brother and sister team. How Jeanie ended up dealing with these difficulties was truly inspirational. Also, the author’s poetic writing is stunning. 

I enjoyed the slow unfolding of the characters lives and I love getting to know Jeanie and Julius throughout their journey. I couldn't put the book down; of course the subject matter is very difficult and painful to read. The author brilliantly writes about health issues, death, homelessness....everything under the sun, but the overall thread of the book is triumph. All The Stars.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Claire Fuller and Tin House for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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