Tag Archive | Stephanie Butland

The Curious Heart Of Ailsa Rae

Sep1

Poignant, Sensitive And Beautiful

The Curious Heart Of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland is a powerful contemporary novel about living with a heart transplant. It is beautifully and poignantly written. The reader becomes intimately acquainted with Ailsa Rae and her new heart as the novel is written from her point of view.

The novel is cleverly constructed with a narrative peppered with emails and blog posts. We really learn what makes Ailsa Rae tick. We hear her hopes and dreams, her fears and failures. We see what life is like when you do not know if you will have a tomorrow.

Tentative steps are taken following the transplant as Ailsa Rae begins to live with tomorrow ahead for the first time. The reader cheers her successes and ‘walks’ the road beside her.

Death is a part of life. Not all those who are waiting will get transplants. When death hits, it hits hard with far reaching arms as we are consumed with grief when we least expect it.

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Lost For Words by Stephanie Butland

Feb27

Love Covers All

Lost For Words by Stephanie Butland is a beautiful and powerful contemporary novel that will stay with you long after the last page is read.

Set in a second hand bookshop in York, the reader is in for a real treat – books within a book. Books that will evoke memories. Familiar quotes. Plus a ‘dear reader’ transported this reader back in time and place. A paradise for the book lover and an absolute delight.

The novel is about love, loss and life. It is beautifully written. The reader ‘feels’ the conflicting emotions of the lead character. We understand her motivations and why she seeks solace in books.

Being written in the first person enables us to really get into the head of the character. The story alternates between present day, three years earlier and 1999, as the back story is gently unravelled.

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