The Earth Hums in B Flat

This is (shamefully) written 5 weeks after our discussion, so its completeness and accuracy are very much in question ...

Overall, the reaction to this book was lukewarm: we liked the authentic Welsh village atmosphere that it evoked, and some of the characters who Gwenni encounters. Many of us felt that the 13 year old naïve but worldly wise Gwenni character was a bit well worn, and written better by other authors. Some of us also struggled with the sheer awfulness of her mother and the laissez-faire approach of her dad who was meant to love her but didn’t protect her. Her mother’s vitriol didn’t really ‘fit’ with the story that is revealed, eventually, about her previous relationship. The flying theme had the predicted reactions (those who don’t like magical realism relieved that she couldn’t; those that do disappointed that it comes to nothing ...). Some of us thought the premise that Gwenni, despite being extremely bright about some things, failed to recognise what ‘black dog’ actually meant, was a bit unbelievable. We discussed the fact that it was interesting to read about a Welsh village in the post-war era, and Anna pointed out that she’d just read a more interesting take on it from another author ... until she realised that it was the same author!

Including Andrew's enthusiastic score of 7.5, the average rating was 5.9 / 10.