Today I’m delighted to be joining the blog tour for Tasting Sunlight. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the blog tour and to Orenda Books for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

Teenager Sally has just run away from a clinic where she is being treated for anorexia. She’s furious with everything and everyone, and wants to be left in peace.

Liss is in her forties, living alone on a large farm that she runs single-handedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people.

From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn’t like other adults; she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.

That night becomes weeks and then months, as an unlikely friendship develops and these two damaged women slowly open up – connecting to each other, reconnecting with themselves, and facing the darkness in their pasts  through their shared work on the land.

Achingly beautiful, profound, invigorating and uplifting, Tasting Sunlight is a story of friendship across generations, of love and acceptance, of the power of nature to heal and transform, and the goodness that surrounds us, if only we take time to see it…

Review:

I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Tasting Sunlight, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to join the blog tour. I was not disappointed at all! Arenz’s writing (and the translation) are simply stunning and I was often lost in the description of Liss’ farm. 

From the outset, I found both Liss and Sally to be intriguing characters and I really wanted to know more about their lives and what had led them to the situation we see in the novel. Arenz’s character development is superb and I loved the relationship between the two women. The understanding between them is understated but so powerful and that will stay with me for a long time. 

Liss and Sally clearly have their own difficulties in their lives, and the author introduces various themes to the reader. Again, these are not described in a graphic way so it is left to the imagination and I feel this is much more hard-hitting. I finished the novel feeling really emotional. 

Tasting Sunlight is available from Amazon.

You can follow the rest of the blog tour here: