Tag Archives: Tim Pears

#BookReview ‘Run to the Western Shore’ by Tim Pears #historical

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Run to the Western Shore by Tim Pears is the mesmeric story of Olwen and Quintus as they run together across Wales, living off the land, heading westwards to the sea. Britain AD72. Given by her father in marriage to the Roman governor Frontinus as part of a peace treaty, Olwen flees in the night. She awakens a slave boy and together they run. Both are nineteen years old. Tim PearsQuintus is a translator, he has lived in many foreign lands but has no real home. He serves his Roman masters as they conquer one country after another. Olwen is part of tribal royalty. She leads Quintus through the countryside and seems at one with nature, wildlife, the land, the soil and its legends. The Welsh woodland, valleys, peaks and streams are beautifully described as they follow a meandering path designed to defeat their Roman pursuers. As they lope across the countryside they share stories of their lives, families and cultures. Quintus is unsure whether Olwen’s story are true, myth or a moment of fanciful imagination.
The writing style is simple and elegant. When a dark purple sky heralds a snow blizzard, ‘It was as if they were bottled inside some receptacle not much larger than themselves and a whimsical god was shaking it. Perhaps two such gods were tossing it to the other.’ Another day they near the River Wye, ‘Below them lay a wide green mead, its grass covered in white lace.’ Made by ‘the little people,’ Olwen says, a funeral shroud or a bridal veil. In fact they are cobwebs, white in the morning dew. The further they travel, Quintus becomes more aware of the ground beneath his feet, the birds that soar above, the joy of feeling free.
Only 152 pages, this is a memorable novella which is effortless to read as the pair day by day approach the western shore and their destiny. It is part history, part road trip, part nature essay, part love story. Beautifully written, it stayed with me for many days afterwards. Enchanting.

Here’s my review of another novel by Tim Pears:-
THE HORSEMAN #1WESTCOUNTRYTRILOGY

If you like this, try:-
‘The Good People’ by Hannah Kent
‘Rush Oh!’ by Shirley Barrett
‘My Name is Yip’ by Paddy Crewe

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview RUN TO THE WESTERN SHORE by Tim Pears https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7AP via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Alys Clare

#BookReview ‘The Horseman’ by Tim Pears #historical #Devon

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The Horseman by Tim Pears is an account of the slow, meandering life on an estate farm in rural Devon. It is 1911 when, for modern readers, the sinking of the Titanic is not far away and the Great War looms. Two children, born into very different worlds, grow up not far apart; both have a strong love of horses. This novel is billed as a coming-of-age tale but it is also a description of rural farming methods. Tim Pears Told in a month-by-month format, the seasons unfold in a remote Devon valley where the passing of time is marked by the weather and the tasks undertaken on the farm. There is a long list of characters and at the beginning I confused who was who, but gradually they settled into their roles. Leopold Sercombe is the youngest son of the master carter working on the tenant farm of a large estate. He longs to escape school every day to run home and help his father with the horses; these are working animals, cart horses and cobs, they are almost characters. We are there as Noble gives birth; as Leo’s father shares one of the secrets of his trade, the use of dried tansy to give his horses a glossy coat; and the day Leo is given a chance to break Noble’s unnamed colt. “The boy watched the colt, his young lean muscular beauty in motion, then turned and walked towards the fence. There was but one spectator there, sitting on the top pole, feet resting on the lower, a youth in a Homburg hat, shirt, breeches, and riding boots of a sort worn by the master and his kind.” Lottie, daughter of the master, the owner of the estate, challenges the way Leo is handling the colt. And so begins their shared love of horses.
This is a 4* book for me. Why not 5*? Because the relationship between the two children takes a long time to start happening and then ends explosively which seems out of kilter with the spirit and pace of the story; because the slow, slow pace of the story and the passages of overly detailed description at times felt like sections for a ‘how to use farm machinery book’. But Leo is an entrancing character; his gentle authority with horses, his silences and thoughtful behaviour, make it essential to read The Wanderers, second in the trilogy.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

If you like this, try:-
‘Barkskins’ by Annie Proulx
‘Anderby Wold’ by Winifred Holtby
‘Housekeeping’ by Marilynne Robinson

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE HORSEMAN by Tim Pears https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3QE via @SandraDanby