Skylarking By Kate Mildenhall @katemildenhall @Legend_Press #GuestReview J.A. Warnock

Today is our turn on the Skylarking blog tour. The book is written by Kate Mildenhall and is published by Legend Press.

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Book Jacket

Kate and Harriet are best friends growing up together on an isolated Australian cape. As the daughters of the lighthouse keepers, the two girls share everything, until a fisherman, McPhail, arrives in their small community.

When Kate witnesses the desire that flares between him and Harriet, she is torn by her feelings of envy and longing. An innocent moment in McPhail’s hut then occurs that threatens to tear their peaceful community apart.

Inspired by a true story, Skylarking is a spellbinding tale of friendship and desire, memory and truth, which questions what it is to remember and how tempting it can be to forget.

Guest Review By J.A. Warnock

The outline sketch of the lighthouse and cape that greets readers of Kate Mildenhall’s debut novel Skylarking is both enigmatic and enticing. It serves to both set the scene and preface the idea that it is a remembered setting, that we are revisiting the past.

There is a simplicity to the book which makes it an easy and enjoyable read. There is a single narrator, also called Kate, who manages to capture a quality of mature, thoughtful reflection as well as the childish certainties of her remembered youth. There is a confessional feel at times when she reveals secret shame and innermost thoughts. At other moments a broad brush sweeps great swathes of personal and social history into a few concise lines.

I hesitate to use the word nice in reviews in case it is taken as a criticism or perceived as unimaginative but this is a genuinely nice book. It does not try too hard to be clever or confusing. It presents a personal history with a nice balance of truth and subjectivity. It captures the human condition and a recognisable range of experiences and emotions.

There isn’t much to this book and, if anything, I would have liked a little more but if that is the worst thing I can say about a novel, it must be doing pretty well. I had not heard of the true story on which Skylarking is based so cannot really comment on its accuracy but it is certainly worth a read.

Check out this free sample and use the link to purchase.

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