A review by sophiefrancoiselucie
Bodies of Water by V.H. Leslie

4.0

I was certainly not expecting such an end. This is a sad book. Do not be fooled by the sisterhood or whatever vibe you might feel you're getting from this story on women and heroines. This is quite depressing. I don't really know how to feel and what conclusions to draw from my reading. I have to reflect on the symbols and meanings... so yes, this is THAT sort of book: the one which keeps you wide awake at night after you finished it, because whatever you do, you can't help but to wonder what it was all about. And besides this amazing opportunity for me to wonder on feminism and on the 19th century, the writing was just so good. It was all very mysterious and gloomy, and I ended up having this strange fascination for the river as well! I felt great in both epochs and as there were no much characters, and that I felt so immersed (no pun intended) in the story, that I felt like I almost knew the two heroines, Evelyn and Kirsten. The author tackles various subjects in here, in the end. I'm not perfectly sure what to make of all of them, but they were great. However, I don't want to spoil anything so this is where I'm going to stop. But just remember, there are some great and deep thoughts on love on this novel (or novella?) and some quotes were pretty mind blowing. Oh and, if you're a man who feels offended quite easily and who's not going to think a bit before shouting that 'women think blabla feminists blabla', maybe don't read this one. I might be very annoyed to hear what you have to say.